Lore Is A Gamble
by Icarus-Discord
Summary: A story of many different paths, which will soon intersect. Rated T for some swearing. I've taken a few different universes, such as Adventure Time, DMC, Adventure Quest, and etc., to merge them into a new world. No, the characters in this story are not the ones in the Shows, and video games. They are simply like them, and share a name.
1. Icarus

The rain pattered outside the Tavern. There was a few people drinking and a few others laughing by the fire in the corner. Suddenly, the door swished open, and noise from the rain Intensified, causing a short glare from most people in the room. The Cloaked Figure closed the door, then took of their cloak to reveal Long locks of Black Hair, grey-like skin, fangs, and crimson eyes. She tossed the Cloak over the hat rack, knocking it over in the process, her fingers twitched as though she didn't mean to do it, but no one noticed, so she rolled with it.

She sat down at the bar, and a Bearded, strong looking man was wiping a dish.  
" May I help you, Miss?" He asked. The woman's lips curved into a Small smile.  
" I'll have an apple, please." She said.  
"...Sure." He went into the door behind the bar. A man suddenly came from upstairs, he was wearing a Cloak, some kind of Wrapped objects on his Back, and a Helmet. The helmet was strange, however, it had horns, the kind that you would expect a demon to have, twisted and Asymmetrical. It had a visor, from the bottom of his nose to his forehead, but you couldn't see through it, there was some kind of Pulsing red energy flowing through it.  
" What'll ya have, boy?" The man asked, coming from the backroom, giving the woman an Apple.  
" Just the usual, Yuglar." He said. The two seemed to know each other. Yuglar reached under the bar, and pulled out two steaming items. The woman pretended not to be interested, but her nose whiffed, she was curious but she didn't show it.  
" Is that...?" She whispered, turning to face the man.  
" Apple Cider...? And...A Donuts...?" She asked.  
" Yep!" The man said, his voice strangely altering through the Visor.  
"...Ah." She turned back and put the apple to her lips, and she sighed.  
The almost taste of the essence of life, the tears of the earth. Almost, slowly, she savored the flavor, not of the apple, but by the time her tongue has reached the fruit, the color was sucked out of it. The apple had turned white, and she set it aside, and sighed, once more.  
" Whoa, that's cool." The man said.  
" How's you do that?" he asked. The donuts and half the cider was gone.  
' A Better question is how did you do that?' She was about to say.  
" Uh, practice...Magic..." She Shrugged.  
" Sweet. My name's Icarus." The Man said, holding out a hand. The Woman stared at his hand for a few more second.  
" My name's Marceline." She took his hand, and as soon as she did, lightning struck a while away.


	2. Moraltar

" Hahah! I can't believe all this gold we got from that tavern!" One of the bandits exclaimed. Riding the carriage through the forest with the other three.  
" I know right! The Inn at that town attracts so many heroes and Adventurers! I still can't believe we weren't caught." They all laughed. The rain was still continuing. But there were eyes watching. Well, one eye. Through a blood-red mask. However, a white, scar-like mark on the mask covered the left eye hole, so only one could see out the mask. Long hair was dripping with water, the color as if it was once a brilliant gold, but after being soaked in blood and tears, have dulled and lost it's gold and luster. The rain drops dripped down Moraltar's body, up in the trees. He unsheathed something metal, and cold. A bow, however, it was more as if a bow and a dagger had a child, for even the String looked polished and sharp. Moraltar slowly pulled a sturdy arrow out of his quiver, and readied it, drawing back on the string. his one eye stared out of the mask, unblinking. The color of green glass reflected coldly as water dripped over the eye hole. He released the arrow, and now only did it curve around and completely demolish the two back wheels of the carriage, but it then proceeded to curve again and completely strike through a tree, falling over on the horses reins, the rope crushed, and horses startled, they ran off. The bandits hopped out of the carriage.  
" How could this have happened... There's no way!" One of the them exclaimed.  
" It's fine, you lot of imps. We can still take the gold back to town and buy a new carriage."  
" Are you an idiot?! They've probably realized their gold is gone by now! We'll have every person who can hold a sword on our tails just at the mention of half of this gold promised to them!"  
" Get over yourself." A dark voice said coldly, stepping out of the Wagon calmly.  
" Boss." One of the said, choking back a gulp.  
" We can always go to the other side of town, where news of the stolen gold hasn't gotten to yet." He said.  
" Ah, yeah-I-I guess that would make sense." One of them stuttered. But as they took a step, an arrow flung out of the darkness of the woods, and struck through one of the bandits legs, and he screamed.  
" Grab the gold! Run! NOW!" The boss yelled, grabbing a handful and taking off back towards the distant light of the town.  
" There's no way in hell!" The other one yelled and ran away in the opposite direction. The remaining two looked at their comrade with a twisted mix of fear and pity, they grabbed a handful of gold and ran off in a similar direction as their boss.  
" Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods." The one who with the arrow in his leg cried with pain and utter terror.  
" Please don't kill me." He cried as he saw an approaching dark figure.  
" Please, please, I just wanted a job to pay for my family..." He shook his head indefinitely, and then blood sprayed all over the wet trees and flowed away with the leaves as low thunder rolled in the distance. The light slowly faded from the man's eyes as he attempted a last breath, but instead found himself simply drowning in his own blood. He was dead.

The two with their pockets filled with gold ran and ran and ran, until they had to stop and catch their breath.  
" Are we going to die?" Of them asked the other.  
" No, of course not. We can't die here. This isn't even a major steal, we have to go out with an even larger bang then that.  
" Yeah, okay..." He breathed.  
" Where do you think boss went?" He asked.  
" No idea, he must be skulking around here somewhere." The more confident one stated.  
" Right... Let's go look." They walked around, searching every corner. Which was a lie, they were actually just trying to get back to the town, and finding their Officer in command was thing number two on the list.  
" Who do you think is trying to kill us?" The scared one asked.  
" Probably some Hero who just beat the others to us." He said, shrugging it off like it was nothing.  
" Right...Alright..." He said.  
" Hey do hear something...?" He whispered. They breathed lightly, and stared intently in the distance.  
" Are you two going to just stand there all day?" The boss said, glaring at them.  
" Oh! Yes sir!" The frightened one said, about to towards him when a low 'thud' was heard. The man stopped in his tracks, and the boss looked with wide eyes at the man, and the other looked terrified at the two of them. The man looked down. A hole in the throat. He looked up at the boss, tears swelling in his eyes.  
" B-But...M-y...Wi-...fe...Our...ch-chi-child." He was walking towards the boss, when another arrow stuck in to his back, and he fell over.  
" COME ON!" He said to his last remaining man, and they both fled into the woods, deeper and deeper. The raining had stopped, so the sound of night insects were now flooding the Woods.  
" How close are we to the town?" The man asked.  
" Close enough, we're almost there." The boss said. They were walking now, squishing the wet leaves beneath their boots.  
"A Stream!" The man yelled.  
" Shut the hell up!" He seethed, and the man didn't pay him any attention, running to the river. He started to drink thankfully, that was, until he looked over, and saw three sharpened sticks, like pikes, holding the three heads of him friends. The first of who was shot in the foot, the second who ran away, and the third who was scared shitless. He knew what was coming next, and before he jumped back, he felt dizzy, and his stomach upturned, into the riverbank. His boss pulled him to his feet, and was pulled away as an arrow flew by, and then threw his club at another, destroying it, but also throwing the arrow off balance.  
"Let's go!" The boss yelled, and they both ran in the opposite direction, when an Arrow scratched the man's side, and he cried out in pain, the boss grabbed his arm, and pulled him along, nearly dislocating his arm in the process. They ran for a good bit before arrows frequently scratched them, and cut off their path and they had to sharply turn to avoid getting pierced through the stomach and head. They also saw a dark shadow jumping from tree to tree, bush to bush, they eventually felt as through they were running in circles, and the man abruptly stopped, as did the arrows.  
" What are you... Hey...?" The boss turned the man around and looked at the arrow in his chest, straight through his heart.  
" Boss...?" He said, one last hopeful glance, and then death.  
The boss yelled. Some was because of anger, some was terror, but most of it was the arrow that ripped from shoulder blade to shoulder blade.

The boss was running pathetically, and eventually came to a hill, bleeding out on the grassy ground. The clouds from last nights storm broke apart, and morning sunlight flooded the town, he even saw the tavern. And then something else. Something...  
" A dog..." He stared at the dog, looking at him with eyes that would not turn down a dying man some comfort.  
" Come here." He held out his dirty and shaking hand, still slightly bloody from his comrades. The dogs sniffed the hand, and licked it, and then barked.  
" You're certainly kind to a man who just spent his entire night trying to get a pretty coin." He said to the dog. The dog barked back it's subtle response, and then barked again, turning around as if expecting the man to follow.  
" Sure, why not. I'm almost dead anyways." he began to walk with the dog. he noticed it limped on one of it's hind legs, something lodged in it. Like an arrowhead, or a small dagger tip.

The dog eventually led him to a small gathering of trees close to the town. A few people were up and getting ready for work.  
" You..." He said. It wasn't a gasp, or a hint of hatred at all. Simply staring at the figure, who stepped into the light. Moraltar said nothing, the dog barked and walked over to him, and he pet it. The boss realized that the dog was his. The dog lead him to his owner.  
" You're a sick man." The boss said, staring at him. Moraltar walked towards him.  
" I know." The slicing of flesh and blood spraying echoed shortly through the small part of the town shortly, before nothing else was heard but the laughter of a warm family.

Moraltar looked through the window, it was a family of three. A mother, a father, and a young boy. The boy in the family laughed once more, and then looked outside the window.  
" What is it honey?" The mother asked.  
" Oh, nothing, thought I saw someone." He shrugged and laughed again.  
"...They need a dog..." Moraltar pet his dog, immorality. He barked agreeably .


	3. Dante

Marceline's eyes fluttered open, and she craned her back, and tossed the blankets of the Inn's bed. Which was surprisingly comfortable. She got dressed in an attire of an en longed grey and red striped shirt, which looked to be fading. She also had black leggings and Black Combat boots. She tossed the cloak over herself and then fingered the necklace she had. It was of a blood red crescent moon. She slid it under her shirt and pulled the hood over her head, and walked out.

" Thanks, oh, you have a good morning too." She said to Yuglar, whom was the Innkeeper. She started to walk, but then, tripped on something, just turning around, and not looking where she was going.  
" Wha- huh?" Icarus shot up, his helmet still pulsing with the red energy.  
" What are you- Icarus? What are you doing sleeping on the ground? There's an Inn not five feet away from you, that you were just in."  
" I know, but the ground is so soft." His voice buzzed through the Visor.  
" But-Okay..." She pinched the bridge of her nose. Icarus stood up. He still had his Cloak on as well.  
" So were are we going?"  
" We?" She asked.  
" Yeah. What kind of adventures are we going on today?" He asked, cheerfully.  
" I...Wasn't aware you were accompanying me..." Marceline said.  
" Well, I am!" He said. She could almost hear the smile in his voice, behind the helmet. He wondered what his face looked like. She sighed.  
" Fine." She glanced at the sky nervously.  
" First stop; The woods." She said, looking at the woods on the hills overlooking the town.  
" And what's our destination?"  
" Darkovia." She said.  
" Ooo" Icarus said with awe.  
Darkovia was the Enchanted forest trapped in eternal night. It's where most creatures of Dark magic go to avoid being hunted, making for quite the battleground for Hunters. There's a Monopoly on the entirety of the land between the Vampires and the Werewolf's.  
" And why are we going there?" He asked.  
" I need to see the queen."  
" Of the vampires? Safira? " He asked.  
" Yeah..." She said, pulling her hood over her face more.  
" Why?" Marceline turned towards Icarus, and almost ran into her, surprised.  
" Look. let's not play twenty Questions, alright? I just want to get there."  
" Okay." He shrugged.  
'Gee, that was easy. Did I make him mad?' Marceline thought, glancing back at the man.  
' No, I don't think that's possible for this guy.' She held in a sigh, and turned around the corner. 

" Sir, please! I know you're a Slayer, but, we can't just give away our vegetation like that..." An Old man pleaded to someone.  
" You know how many time's I've saved this town?" The man asked. Marceline thought she heard a snicker behind her, but when she turned around, there was only Icarus there. And it couldn't of been him, why would he snicker at something like that? The man was tall, around Icarus' height, wearing a red overcoat and black undershirt, and Dark Pants, with leather looking boots. He also had a belt with something on it under his coat, Marceline noticed. His skin was pale, his eyes were red, and his hair was white, and short, the front sloped up, and the rest looked pretty simple. An Albino, probably.  
" Please, Dante! You always take ALL of the Strawberries, we don't make nearly as much as we used to! I need to survive, and feed my family!"  
" So do I..." Dante grumbled.  
" But you don't need many strawberries!" The old man pleaded Icarus walked by Marceline, and he pulled the hood over his helmet, which made it look kind of weird, the horns made the hood stand up in the back a Little.  
" Hey." Icarus said, to the bartender.  
" Ah, it's you! Uh, hello. Would you like some Grapes? I think we still have some grapes." The old man said.  
" No really, it's fine." Icarus said, nodding at the man.  
" And who are you?" Dante asked.  
" My name is Icarus." He held out his hand.  
" What's your name?" Icarus asked.  
" Dante." He said, not bothering to shake his hand. Icarus put it down after a second.  
" What's the problem?" Icarus asked the Gardener.  
" Well-" He stuttered.  
" Mr. Icarus, sir, uh, this young man, Dante, you see, he, well, he's a Demon Slayer, and he's saved the Town from Demons in the forest that aimed to eat the Townsfolk." He said.  
" That's funny." Icarus said.  
" Excuse me?" Dante said, looking at him.  
" There are no Demons in that forest. " he pointed to the ones on the hills.  
" If there were, I would have dealt with them already." He said.  
'Him?' Marceline thought skeptically. Was everyone claiming to be a Demon Hunter?  
" Which-um-reminds me." The gardener said.  
" Those grapes are still up..." He said.  
" Do you have any apples? Red ones?" Icarus asked.  
" Ah, uh, yes, I believe." He said.  
" Mind giving it the Girl right there?" He pointed at Marceline and she flinched. She realized how much time they were wasting. Morning was almost breaking through last nights storm.  
" Oh, and, may I come in?" She called, a little more frantic then she wanted to sound.  
" Of course, any friend of Icarus, is, uh, a friend of mine." He said, beckoning her in, and she practically ran inside.  
"What, the fuck?" Dante asked, Marceline thought smoke might come out of his ears. She was watching through the window, sucking the red out of the apple.  
" What? She was probably hungry." He shrugged.  
" No, I mean, why does the gardener go to no ends to fulfill your needs? What have YOU done for HIM? Certainly not saved the town.  
" Dante said. " I already said that are no Demons around. No ones that would be stupid enough to attack the town. There are quite a few people who can hold a sword here. If they're promised some gold and a little Mead they'll suddenly get super strong. It's actually pretty funny." he said.  
" You still didn't answer my question. . . ...?" There was a long pause, and Icarus shrugged.  
" Why don't you take that stupid cloak off, with the Helmet? Or are you too chicken to fight me without a Blankie?" He asked. Icarus didn't answer him.  
" And why the fuck are you acting like you're better than me?" Dante asked.  
" I am." Icarus said, simply. Marceline choked, looking at him. That was certainly out of character for him. At least of what she's seen of him. Dante's jaw clenched.  
" Let's test that theory, shall we?" He asked through Clenched teeth.  
" Sure." Icarus said cheerily.  
Marceline held her pendant. Was she going to have to go help him? He didn't look quite Strong enough to fight Dante and win. Dante pulled the two objects that were under his overcoat and on his belt out. One was white, the other black, two small guns, a weapon that Slayers used.  
" And he definately won't win against those!" She was about the run out of the shop, when the Gardener grabbed her arm.  
" Don't! It's dangerous!" He said.  
" I can take care of myself, he needs help!"  
" Yes, but, why would you help him? He's attacking your friend isn't he?" It took a moment for what the man was saying to her to sink in. She looked out the window. He was trying to stop her from going out there because Icarus was dangerous. Not Dante.  
Icarus was sidestepping, dodging the bullets with calmness and precision, and that seemed the piss Dante off more, because then he held the Pistols for a long time and two large blasts fired out. Marceline noticed that the part of the gun where the ammo went in had a symbol on it than Dante had on his hand. The ammo wasn't physical, it was his energy. Icarus pulled the large objects that was wrapped tightly in the same black cloth as his Cloak, He blocked the two Blasts with the object. It was some kind of shield, Marceline guessed. Dante jumped up, and then off one of the small Buildings, attempting the kick Icarus, but he spun, and slammed one of the sides into Dante, but he blocked it at the last second with one of his guns. Maybe his weapon...? What even was that thing, Marceline was thinking. Dante then shot a small burst out of the gun at him, and Marceline flinched, but it hit the helmet, and Marceline still thought that probably hurt quite a bit. Icarus then kicked Dante in the stomach, and sent him flying to the ground, and Marceline flinched again. She didn't know who was winning, or who to worry more about.  
" Wait...Why should I worry?" She thought aloud.  
The wrapped objects hit the ground next to him.  
" Ready to give up? " Icarus asked him.  
" Not particularly." The mark on his hand, and on the White guns suddenly started burning hot and glowed, and a Large pulse of Energy was fired, completely engulfing him.  
" Icarus!" Marceline ran outside, pulling away from the Gardener, and the sun flashed brightly over her cloak, and she flinched with pain. But she was too late, the pieces of Black cloth turned into ash in the air. Dante sighed, and got up, triumphantly.  
" Icarus..." Marceline said. She didn't know the guy that well, but he didn't deserve to be a Pile of ash.  
" And that should teach everyone," Dante said, to the crowd that was gathering.  
" Not to mess with Demon Slay-" He was tripped off his feet, and onto the ground. Icarus chuckled. It was him. He still had his helmet, he had a sword in his hand, with a Skeletal Handle, and a large red, slightly rusty blade, Marceline noticed it almost appeared to be emitting Darkness. He was wearing a tattered Black Scarf, and a dark red shirt, tucking into a black cloth belt. He had some sort of Black Cuff lings with White sticking out slightly. He had Red Pants, tucked into Black Boots, he also had Black shoulder and knee pads, with a Black Sash around his torso, probably to hold the sword on his back.  
" You, but, how did you...?" Dante stuttered. " I threw the cloak off and jumped back." Icarus said simply. Dante grumbled.  
" You're out of magic." Icarus pointed out.  
" You won't be able to shoot anymore." He said.  
" Just you wait..." He grumbled.  
" Uh, Icarus, we should go." Marceline said, eyeing the Sky, which was quickly losing it's large clouds.  
" Oh yeah! Darkovia!" He said.  
" Darkovia?" Dante asked.  
" Icarus! Shh!" She nearly hissed. Icarus just shrugged.  
" I'm coming with you." Dante said, getting up.  
" No." Marceline said simply.  
" Yes. I am. There are slayers in Darkovia, so I might as well. I have nothing better to do." Marceline looked at the two of them.  
" Well, I was GOING to go alone, but sure, the more the merrier!" She said, a little too angrily.  
" But first, I need to wait. Someone wasted a shit-ton of time squabbling, so I'll to stay here." She said, walking back in the Garden shop.  
" At least until it gets dark." She said, holding the necklace, and sighing.


	4. Ginger

Ginger kicked up the sand as she walked through the town. So much sand. If she gets one more grain of sand in her boot she feels like she might have to turn into a Mermaid just to keep the feeling of dryness away from her. Ginger was a girl, 17 years old, many freckles dotted her face, she had bright green eyes, and wavy red hair that could easily be mistaken for fire, at some distance. She had a tan, nearly sand colored cloak over her, just to keep her from getting sunburn. She had a black pole-like staff on her back, and she walked into an Inn. The inn smelled of Roasted lizard and Cactus juice.  
" Hello!" The cheery Innkeeper said to her. Ginger wondered how she could live in this place and be so happy. She would have snapped and poured Scorpion poison into everyone's water. Not there was any here or anything.  
" Hey." Ginger said, pulling the tan Cloak over her head.  
" Can I just have a room? And uh..." She looked at the piece of paper in front of her, which had all the services.  
"...Lizard on a Stick, and...Sparkling Cactus juice?" She asked, putting a few silver coins on the Desk.  
" Sure thing! We'll have it up to your room in no time! " She said, handing her a key with a "2" Marked on it.  
" You'll have to share with another girl, but don't worry, she doesn't look like she bites."

Marceline twirled the necklace in her fingers, and she looked over to the door opening, surprised.  
" Oh, sorry. I'm supposed to share a room with you?" She said, holding up the key.  
" Ah. That's alright." Marceline shrugged. Ginger set her stuff down next to the bed that Marceline wasn't occupying, and took off her boots, and Cloak. She stretched. Ginger was wearing a Long sleeved black shirt, with a grey short sleeved shirt over it. She had no belt, and was wearing dark grey, almost black pants.  
" That's quite the Dark Attire, for someone in a dessert." Marceline said.  
" Says you?" Ginger chuckled, looking at her black cloak. Marceline gave a half smile and shrugged.  
" touche' " Marceline said.

Ginger's eyes fluttered open to the sound of her door being knocked, and someone else opened it.  
" Hello?" " A nice red headed girl ordered these?"  
" Oh, she's asleep, i'll put them next to her." Marceline said, taking the tray. Ginger closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Marceline put the tray on the desk next to her. And she pretended to be asleep for a few more minute until her stomach growled loud enough for her to pretend that it woke her up. She blushed and avoided eye contact with the other girl. She ate her lizard and drank the juice, which was very bubbly for some reason. Probably why it was called "Sparkling" Cactus juice. She heard a loud thud in the room next to her, and some yelling.  
" Ugh." Marceline got out of bed, and walked out. Ginger heard the sound of a door slamming open, and heard the girl say some stuff like "Shut up" and " How is that a problem?" And " I know we're out of money." And then it went on. Ginger walked past the room to go downstairs, and saw two guys. One with white hair and one with a helmet, with strange horns. She shrugged and walked down to the bar part of the Inn, where the people were socializing.

She sat at a table, and a waitress gave her a cup of water, although it was only half full, she still drank it.  
" And the top job for today." A woman announced, everyone got silent and looked to her. Ginger noticed that her Roommate and the two Boys from earlier were down here now. The woman was pointing to a piece of paper on a board, with the numbers "10,000" On it.  
" Is the hunt for the White sand Dragon's scales, the reward? 10,000 Golden crowns, equivalent to a single dragon coin." She said, everyone got up to go to wherever this dragon was supposed to be, Ginger realized the trio having a short argument, and then got up as well.  
" Might as well, if anything I can use the money to get out of this dessert." She shrugged, and got up as well.


	5. Vita

The screams of the other bounty takers were apparent as Blood splashed the sand.  
" DUNEWYRM!" Of them screamed right as the giant Sand Colored serpent plunged from the dessert ground and killed him.  
" RUN! " Another one yelled as they were running towards the Rocky semi-mountain. A few more died right before they all reached the caves. it was Nightfall, and they all looked out onto the dessert where three or four Dunewyrms were slithering back into the ground.

" That...Was...Insane..." Dante panted for air.  
Icarus looked out onto the dessert with unseen eyes through the Visor.  
" What's wrong?" Marceline asked him.  
" Nothing, I just have a bad feeling about this." The red energy flickered, and Marceline rubbed her arms.  
" Let's go. " Marceline said, and led what was left of the group deeper into the cavern.  
Ginger watched them, the trio, walking a little ahead of everyone else. They did stick out of the group, and they did feel a little stronger, somehow. She saw some light flickering off the crystals that were forming on the ceiling, lighting their way so they didn't need a torch, which was good, considering they didn't have any firewood.  
There was suddenly a low grumble reverberated through the Caves, and a few people let out a small cry.  
"What was that?" She heard the white haired man ask.  
"...A Dragon." Said the one in a Helmet.  
" Hey, you." Said her roommate, Ginger looked up.  
" Yeah? " She asked.  
" What's your name?" She asked.  
" Ginger." She replied.  
" Ah, appropriate." She said, giving a half chuckle.  
"My name's Marceline." Marceline said, smiling.  
" Nice to meet you Marceline." Ginger said, half-smiling back.  
" Dante is the one with white hair, Icarus is the one with the helmet." She said.  
" Oh, they look fun."  
" Oh, tons." She said, scowling sarcastically. They both chuckled.  
" What if there isn't actually a White Sand-Dragon at all?" Someone asked.  
" Then my brother would have died in vain." Another answered.  
Icarus was silent, looking further into the cave, Dante was trying to talk to him but he was ignoring him.  
" What's the matter with him? Is his face, like, scarred or something?"  
" I doubt it. He usually isn't this antisocial. I USUALLY have to pry him away from anyone who...Well...Anyone, really. " Marceline shrugged.  
Ginger smiled.  
" Hey, Icarus, what's on your Mind?" Marceline asked him.  
" I'm gonna go ahead and go deeper. Everyone rest." He said, getting up.  
" Whoa, hey, wait." Marceline said, getting up.  
" What if you find the Dragon?"  
"...Then I find the Dragon." He said, walking down it.

After about 10 more minutes, the group was moving again. Icarus was probably far ahead of them.  
Ginger felt a lot rumble under her every now and then, but no one else seemed to notice it, but she now had her staff in her hands at all times.  
They all looked around the corner, and saw a large opening, full of crystals, and white sand.  
" This must be where the White Sand Dragon Sleeps..." Someone whispered.  
" Come on." Another whispered.  
" No, wait!" Marceline whisper-Shouted.  
a small group split off from the main one and slid down the hill of sand that formed from the opening of the save into the larger room. They were gently stepping, until the steady humming in the ground stopped, as did they. Ginger gulped, and gripped her staff tighter.

...

...

...

There was a loud bang, and a Dunewyrm was sent sliding across the room, and hit the Side, and it hissed, the sub group screamed and ran back towards the group, until a new Dunewrym popped from the ground and cut them off from the hill back up.  
" Hey!" Icarus yelled at the second Dunewyrm.  
" Over here! Don't you wanna play tag with your friend?" He called. The giant snake hissed and bolted back the group, straight towards Icarus, whom held the strange sword in a way like he was about to Slash, but Ginger noticed something odd. His hand started to glow red, and he put the blade sideways. He pulled his hand back, and hti it against the blunt part of the sword, and a slash like wave of energy was sent towards the Wyrm, slicing it completely in half.  
" WHOA!" Someone yelled.  
" WHAT THE HELL? HE USED MAGIC?!" Another yelled. Ginger turned towards Marceline, she looked a tad less shocked then everyone else but still the same reaction for the most part.  
" A little help?" Icarus asked, stumbling just a tad.  
" Oh, of course he used all of his energy." Marceline muttered, shaking her head.  
" Dante!" She said to the white haired man, who grabbed guns from under his cloak and jumped down with her.  
The Second Dunewyrm struck at Icarus and he just barely dodged, the Serpent bashed it's head into the white sand, sending a cloud of it in the air, Icarus jumped back and Dante sent two large energy blasts at the Snake, and it recoiled and hissed.  
" Everyone! Run!" Marceline yelled to the group, and they didn't waste any time, they all ran away back into the cave and probably would run until they made it back to town.  
The Wyrm hissed and knocked Dante off his feet and almost slammed into him, but Marceline swept Dante out of the way with intense speed and practically threw him against the wall.  
" Ow! The fuck?!" He yelled.  
" You're welcome!" She called back, angrily. The snake hissed angrily, and lunged at her, only for her to grabbed the Red Crescent necklace, and glowing red ribbons released quickly, and slashed the Wyrm and several splotches of green blood sprayed out, burning the crystals around it, it's acidic blood slightly melting them.  
But then the red ribbons reseeded back into the Moon like necklace.  
" ...Whoa..." Said Ginger, in awe, however, the Wyrm simply glared at Marceline, through snake-like eyes.  
" Marceline!" Dante yelled, grabbing his guns again.  
Ginger gripped the Staff and narrowed her eyes.  
' I should help ' She realized.  
' They shouldn't die. They need my help. ' She thought again.  
The Red Crescent moon suddenly turned into a red orb, a full moon, and then spiraled, and turned into a Flurry of red blades, and slashed the Wyrm, until it pierced through it's head, and it went limp.  
Ginger sighed with relief.  
" Alright guys." Marceline said, holding her necklace.  
" Let's go find us a dragon. " She said. As soon as she said that, another Wyrm, a third serpent plunged out of the ground, and knocked Marceline out from under her feet.  
" Shit!" Dante grabbed his guns but the Symbols didn't glow, he was out of energy. Icarus jumped Forward and slashed it down the back, it screeched loudly, and then turned towards Icarus, and opened it's mouth to spit poison, and Ginger, at the moment, brought down the Green blade, glowing and burning like fire that was Forged into Steel on the black staff, the energy wrapped around the Snakes neck, and swiftly decapitated it.  
" Thanks for that. Back there." Marceline said to Ginger.  
" No problem." Ginger said.  
" I have a feeling that I'm going to have to save you guys a lot more." Ginger laughed.  
" Right..." Marceline chuckled.

They were walking down the perfectly carved Crystal Hallway, and it opened out into something you would see in a painting. An Underground Oasis, much more flourishing than the one in the city, with flowers and a deep, dark pond, and Dragonflies and a few foxes. In the middle, was a smaller island, with a small bed of sand, and on top, was a A baby dragon. White as snow.  
" The White sand Dragon..." Dante said.  
" It's..A baby..." Ginger said.  
Icarus stepped forward.  
" And where do you think you're going?" Marceline asked, glaring at his sword.  
Icarus turned to look at her, and put the sword Gently on the ground, turned around, and then started walking again. Marceline looked at him strangely.

" Hey there." Icarus said, on the edge of the outer pond, the Baby Dragon's green eyes fluttered open, and looked at Icarus, and Squeaked in fear.  
" Hey, hey, don't be afraid. Where's your Mother?" He asked. His voice was smooth, like he was trying to talk to an actual child.  
"...Viņa ir ... Viņa ir aizgājusi ... Viņa izgāja vienu dienu, un nekad atnāca atpakaļ ..." The Dragon said in a high pitched voice.  
Icarus tilted his head in sympathy.  
" How do you get your food?" He asked.  
" Jauki čūskas lai tos. Tie saglabātu cilvēku, jo cilvēki bija mana māmiņa. Viņas svariem. " The Dragon said sadly.  
" Her scales? Where they like yours? They're very beautiful." Icarus said.  
The Dragon looked up, and at the others, nervously.  
" Wanna come with us? We won't hurt you. We Promise." He said.  
"...Šie cilvēki skandāla ar gariem melniem matiem mani biedē. Viņa smaržo kā vampīrs." It looked nervously at Marceline.  
" Who? Her? Heh, maybe. She's nice though." He said.  
" What? What did it say?" Marceline asked. Icarus just chuckled.  
" How about it?" He asked. The Dragon looked at all of them.  
" Mana mamma nekad man iedeva vārdu, pirms cilvēki ņēma viņu prom ... "  
Icarus held out his arms widely, the dragon shuffled it's wings for a second, and then not-so-gracefully flew into them.  
" You need to practice flying, little guy."  
" Maz puisis? Ir tas, ka mans vārds? "  
" No, I don't think that suites a Dragon." He said, lifting it up.  
" A Dragon name has to be majestic, and beautiful. Especially if the Dragon is even more Majestic and Beautiful then most others." Icarus said, slowly, and gently spinning with him in the air.  
" I grew up around of Dragons you know. I made friends with a few, one was named Favnir, and he loved the sky. One was Lyth and he obsessed over keeping all the caves clean and spotless. One was named Sudreth, and his scales were black as ink. One was named Sivitah, and she was the smartest Dragon I knew. Which was saying quite a bit. But you remind me of Vita. Vita was a small Dragon. So small many picked on him for being so small when he should of grew as he aged. But he was Brave, when Dragon slayers got into the mountains, all the other Dragons Receded into the caves but Vita..." Icarus smiled. No one could see it, but they could hear it in his voice.  
" Vita scared them off. He was then known not as the puny weirdling, instead he was known as Vita the Champion of the Brave. So that's what you'll be, for being so brave to live here by yourself. How does that sound?" he asked.  
"..Vi-..Vita?" The little dragon tried to pronounce.  
" Yup." Icarus said. The little dragon smiled widely and flapped it's little wings happily.  
" I think he likes it." Ginger said, staring at Icarus. Dante and Marceline looked at him, a little surprised.  
"...So...No Reward?" Dante asked. Marceline punched him in the arm, and he fell over with a Grunt of Pain.

The group of people were about halfway towards the town, when suddenly, a light Sandstorm started up.  
" Oh, great," Someone said.  
" Now we'll never get back to the Town..." Another sighed deeply.  
" No...You won't." Said a dark voice, and the color of red was seen in the small sandstorm, before silence screamed through the dessert.


	6. William

Embers flowed through through the Village, black and crisp, the occasional black parts of burned wooden houses fell, crunching of ash and splinters were apparent as William spotted a limping survivor of the Burning landscape that was once his home, his village.

" Hello?" He called out hopefully. The black, charred image, was walking his way, holding out his arm as if that would make him get there faster, but not even before he was remotely close to William, the figure was swallowed in a sudden burst of flames that erupted from the ground, and when they dispersed, there was a Red Figure, dancing, causing more flames to spread wherever she beckoned, the red dressed figure, was the Infamous daughter of the Crimson King.  
She was princess Scarlet.

" So...How can you understand him?" Dante asked Icarus, beckoning to the little white dragon.  
" Well, I grew up around a lot of Dragons, so I learned how to speak their language."  
" Dragons, huh? Aren't they the most powerful Elemental s in the World?" Ginger asked.  
" Besides Gods, yeah. They were one of the first Creatures to manifest on Lore. They were the basis for Evolution. Creatures copied their Scales for Protection, their Eyes for Sight, their wings for flight, Their Claws for battle, and their Breath for magic. " He explained. Watching Vito attempting to fly higher.  
" How is it?" Marceline asked.  
" What?" Icarus asked her.  
" It grew up in the dessert, Right? How is it doing on the edge of Darkovia?" Marceline asked, looking at the little white dragon.  
" Oh, he seems to be doing fine. " Icarus said.  
" Why is she coming with us, anyway?" Dante asked. Ginger just looked at him.  
" Why are YOU? In fact, why are ANY of you coming with me? This is my quest." Marceline stopped.  
" Darkovia is a Scary place." Icarus said.  
" I'm a scary person." Marceline said, borderline hissing.  
" No Arguments here." Icarus said, holding his hands up defensively.  
" But Safira is not a normal Vampire. She's a lorddess, she's more intact with her Demon side then most." he continued.  
Marceline scoffed, then rubbed her arm uncomfortably.  
" Why are you coming, then?" She asked Icarus. He shrugged.  
" Sounded like fun."  
" There are slayers there, once I find them, I'm out, don't worry." Dante said, grumbling.  
Ginger flinched when she broke eye contact with Vita in the sky, and turned to look at everyone else, who was staring at her.  
" What?" She asked, surprised.  
" Why are you tagging along?" Marceline asked.  
" Well, I don't know, I have nothing better to do." She said, looking at all of them.  
" She did kind of save us back at the Duneywrm crypt." Icarus said.  
Marceline shrugged.  
" Whatever, just, when we get to the Vampire Castle, don't follow me inside." Marceline ordered them, they all shrugged.  
" Hey...What's that?" Ginger asked, looking at a plume of smoke in the distance. They all looked at each other. Marceline looked at the sky. The night was still young, they still had time.  
" Let's go." Marceline said.

Vito squeaked nervously when he looked around.  
" It reeks. " Marceline covered her nose.  
" Magic. " Ginger pointed out, looking around, Marceline nodded.  
The village was burned down. Suddenly, there was a cough from someone, a Boy.  
" Is anyone out there?!" He called.  
" Someone's still alive!" Ginger said, running to the source of the noise.  
" Ginger! Wait up!" Marceline called.

William gasped, and then coughed from the smoke, and then passed out.

" Is he going to be okay?" Asked a voice, female.  
" Yeah, just go get some water." Said a male voice.  
" Alright." Said the first one, sounding concerned. There were footsteps, and then a door closing.  
" Alright..." Said the male voice. William's eyes didn't open, he was in too much pain.  
Suddenly, some kind of warm feeling went over him, but there was something off about it. It was like a fire, but cold, a creeping feeling.  
And then he coughed up some kind of gunk, and he gasped for air, and then passed out again.

Suddenly, water passed through his lips, and he shot up, spilling it all over himself.  
" Ack, guh, huh?" William asked, looking around, everyone was looking at him.  
" Hey." the woman from earlier said. She had Red hair and green eyes.  
" Oh, hey..." He said, looking at all of them.  
"Where am I?" He asked.  
" You're in a cabin, near Darkovia." Another woman said. She had long black hair and Grey skin.  
" Darkovia? That's the forest near my village...!" He said, he was exited for a second. Then realized what had happened before, and his voice died off.  
They all looked at him sadly.  
" So it really happened...?" William asked, tears swelling in his eyes.  
William was about 10 years old, with blue eyes, and blond locks of hair.  
" It was Probably Princess Scarlet." Dante said.  
" Who?" William asked, wiping the tears away, only for them to come back.  
" There are two kingdoms that inhabit this land. There's King Alfred, who rules over the majority, and then there's Alfred's brother, Crimson, who broke off from his brother's kingdom to create his own kingdom, a very small, but inhabited kingdom. Kingdom of the Red. He found a Sorceress for a lover and had twins before she died of a Magical Disease. The twins are Scarlet, and then a boy, who died at Birth. " Marceline explained.  
William wiped his tears away once more.  
" Then I'm going to kill Scarlet." He said, getting up, as he did, he stepped on something, and it retracted away, William fell over when he saw it.  
It was a Dragon, and it was holding it's tail in pain.  
" I'm...Sorry..." William said, looking at it wide eyed.  
" Never seen a dragon before?" The man from before, the one who stayed in the room, said.  
William shook his head.  
" Well, his name is Vita." He said. The White Dragon squeaked at him, and William flinched.  
" Nice to meet you Vita...My name is William..." he said, holding out his palm, the Dragon licked it.  
" Viņš izskatās jautri" The dragon said to Icarus.  
" Yeah. " Icarus agreed.  
" What is he saying?" Ginger asked.  
" He said-" Icarus began.  
" 'he looks like fun' " William said. Everyone looked at him.  
" How did you know that?" Marceline asked.  
" Because he just said it." William said, Innocently at the Dragon.  
" No, he just said...Stuff." Dante said.  
" Draconic." Icarus said.  
" The language of the Dragons. Only Dragons and Dragonlords can understand it." He said, looking at William.  
" Dragonlords?" Dante asked.  
" Aren't they, like, a race of Humans who are born at the same time as a Dragon, somewhere else in the world, and they're destined to meet each other and become Partners?" Ginger asked.  
" Something like that, Yeah. " Marceline said.  
William thought he heard a mumble from Icarus, but he couldn't understand it. The woman with the Black hair's pointed ear twitched, so she knew that he had said something as well.  
" Does that mean that...This is my Dragon...?" William asked, looking at Vita.  
" Es neesmu jūsu Dragon. Tu esi mans cilvēks." Vito said, looking at William in an odd way.  
" You're both wrong." Icarus said.  
" You don't belong to each other, you're supposed to help each other, In a way, you're two sides of the same coin. " Icarus said.  
" Can someone please Translate what the Dragon is saying?!" Dante yelled, and everyone looked at him.  
Icarus stared at him for a long time, then pulled a Ring out of a small bag on his side, no larger then a coin purse.  
He pulled out a Ring. A small golden ring with a Red Crystal orb on it, with two golden wings wrapped around it.  
" What's that?" William asked, as Icarus put it on his finger.  
" A Dragon Amulet. It's used for a lot of things concerning learning how to cope with a Dragon in your life." Icarus said.  
" Including..." He tapped the red orb, and it flashed for a second.  
" Translating Dragons." He looked at Vita.  
" Does everyone know what i'm saying now?" He asked.  
" Yeah." Ginger answered him.

" Are they going to be okay on their own? Shouldn't they come with us?" Ginger asked, waving goodbye to the Boy and Dragon.  
" No." Marceline answered.  
" Where we're going, they're safer by themselves." She said, turning around to go into the Forest.  
" We've spent the night, and then another day in that cabin, taking care of the boy. We've wasted alot of time. We can't stop at every single burnt village we come across, if you're going to follow me, we can't waste time." Marceline said, looking at them.  
"...All right." Icarus said, walking to catch up with her. Dante and Ginger did the same.

And so they entered Darkovia.


	7. The Golden Wolf

Bats flew out of the forest as a scream echoed through the dark woods.

" WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Dante screeched.

" Shut up!" Marceline seethed.

" It was a Flying eyeball." Ginger said, looking at the giant eyeball melting into the ground.

" Obviously, BUT THOSE EXIST!?" He screeched again, and Marceline punched him.

" Yes." Ginger said, laughing at them.

" So, where are going?" She asked Marceline.

" I'm going to the castle, when we get close to the castle, you're all leaving." She said.

" Do you have any idea where the castle is?" Icarus asked her.

"...yes." She said.

" Liar's go to hell." Dante said simply. Marceline glared at him.

" SO what If I don't? I can find it." She said.

" Right.." Icarus laughed.

" So, tell us again, why are you looking for the Vampires Castle?" Ginger asked.

" For Safira." Marceline simply answered.

" But why?" She asked again.

" Because...I have my reasons." She shot back.

" Alright! " Ginger held up her hands defensively.

They all were walking in the forest, Dante was darting his eyes impatiently, Ginger was absentmindedly walking along, not paying much attention to anything. Icarus was cheerfully humming lightly, hardly noticeable through the hum of the Helmet, and Marceline was darting her eyes around nervously.

Then, there was a Cry. A lonesome, empty howl towards the bright, large, full moon. it was a wolf. A large, wolf. It was on a cliff, higher then the group. It's fur shimmered gold, and it's eyes were red as blood. It looked at them, and whimpered.

" That's..." Icarus started, and the wolf opened it's mouth, and howled. Marceline grabbed her red crescent moon necklace and it turned into a Full moon, and then into the ribbons, and then gathered, and turned into some other shape. A long, slender dark pole with a Crescent red blade, curving in the shape of death.

It was a Scythe.

The Wolf glared at them, eyes unblinking, a low growl escaped it's chest.

Marceline glared back, staring at it with the same unblinking, soulless, ice cold eyes.

There was a howl in the Distance, and the Wolf in front of them howled back, right before running off towards the direction of the howl.

There was a long pause, and then the Scythe Reverted back into the Necklace.

" So.." Icarus said, looking at the Necklace.

" Cool Scythe."

" Gerrick. " A boy said, looking at a Dark man, sitting with various others at a table, eating.

" Yes?" He responded, looking at him.

" There are people in Darkovia, in our Domain. They're looking for Safira's Castle. They don't know they're in Werewolf Territory. " He said. The Boy had gold hair and red eyes, and he was wearing a cloak, and a cloak only, as if he had to put it on quickly to avoid being naked.

" Really? Any idea why?" Gerrick asked, wiping the crumbs off his lips with a Napkin.

" No, Gerrick. There is a...Fang...Among them. As well as three others, a Slayer as well, I think. One looks like a Mage, she has a Staff, and the last one looks odd. Almost like a..." His voice dropped and Gerrick raised a brow.

" Like a what?" He asked.

" Like a Doom lord." The boy said. The chattering voices stopped and everyone in the Dining hall was looking at the two.

" a Doom Lord? In Darkovia? Why? " Gerrick asked, getting up slowly, wiping the crumbs off his pants.

" I...Don't know, Gerrick." The boy said. Gerrick patted him on the head.

" Find out what you can, there's a nice pig in it for you if you find out more about them." Gerrick said. The boys eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously. He tossed the cloak away, and there was a golden Wolf sprinting away.

" Ah, now then." he looked at the group looking at him.

" Who wants to hunt?" he asked.

" So, Vita. Yes? What do Dragons eat? Princess** He grinned toothily. **

**William said. **

He shrugged.

t mind this? Not at all. You need a weapon. What? A Dragonlord. They need weapons to fight along side their Dragons. Then we should probably go find one, then? All right then, let** He got up, and then sat back down. **


	8. Amity-vale

" Yeah, it's, uh, just a Magic Scythe. " Marceline shrugged.  
" It's a cool Scythe." Icarus pointed out.  
" It's alright." Dante said, trying not to eye the necklace. Ginger chuckled.  
" So, what's with that big machete you got there?" Marceline asked, changing the topic, motioning towards Icarus' Sword.  
" It's a Reaping Sword. " Icarus said proudly.  
" It looks like a Doom Sword." Ginger said, he looked back at her.  
" It is. A Doom Reaping Sword." he said.  
" So, you're a Doom Lord?" Dante asked.  
" I thought it was kind of Obvious. You know, Doom Helmet, doom magic. Those are some attributes of a Doom lord. But no, i'm a Fairy." he said, laughing, Dante rolled his eyes.  
They walked for a bit more.  
" You're not actually a Fairy are you?" Ginger asked.

The wolfs ripped apart some kind of animal, ripping the flesh off, and chewing the muscle. It was a Stag of some sort, but it looked to already be Decaying.  
" Gerrick." The golden haired boy said, looking at Gerrick, who was an Audience for the scene, curiously watching.  
" Yeah?" He asked.  
" The group is approaching the Hell mouth, alot faster then we expected. The Lower Demons haven't even slowed them, well, the white haired one is an exception to that statement, but, yeah. I mean-Yes, Gerrick." He corrected himself. Gerrick laughed lightly.  
" I'm not your King, Donovan. Not yet, not while there are still so many Competitors." he said.  
" Yes, uh, About that..." He said, glancing nervously at him with those red eyes.  
" What is it?" He asked, curious.  
" Uh, I think, the vampire, is... Attempting to throw Safira from her throne." He said.

William was walking around, shivering slightly, his only warmth was the light that emitted from Vita's Scales.  
" Are you sure this is a good place to get a Weapon?" William asked.  
" Positive. Dragons are adept at Sensing Treasure."  
" Treasure? I need a Weapon though!" He said.  
" You need a Legendary Weapon." Vita said, nodding at his own logic.  
" Whatever. Let's just find somewhere to Rest." William responded.  
" Hey look, a town!" Vita said, flapping his wings, excitedly.  
When they entered the town, there were many townsfolk. Many eyes watching.  
" Hey." Someone whispered, William jerked his head to look at the Alley the whisper came from.  
" Yeah, you. Why are you here in Amityvale? "  
" I was just..Exploring... " He said.  
" Who are you?" William asked the voice.  
" My name is Zorbak." It said.  
" I'm William. Do you know where any treasures are?" He asked.  
" Ah, so that's why you're here."  
" To find treasure?"  
" To find weapons. You're a Dragonlord in in training." Zorbak said.  
" How do you figure?"  
" Well, you have a Dragon next to you."  
William and Vita looked at each other, and Shrugged.  
" Alright, you got me there. Do you know where any powerful weapons are?" he asked.  
" What? Like, Magic Weapons, or Doom Weapons?"  
"... What are Doom Weapons?" William asked, curious.  
" Nasty, nasty things. Only wield them if you're some kind of Conscienceless Sociopath with no Remorse or mercy for your Enemies. Somehow I don't get that vibe off of you."  
William thought for a Moment.  
" What kind of magic weapons do you know about?" He asked.  
" Well, I'm adept at Necromancy, so, if you wanna start getting in the black arts, I-"  
" Hey!" Yelled a voice.  
" Crap! I gotta go kid, if you wanna know more, go to Darkovia, I'll be there." A Blue figure, no taller than his legs, zoomed out of the Alley, blurring past him and into the woods.  
" Hey kid! You alright?" The guard asked him, eyeing the Dragon strangely.  
" Yeah, uh, yes sir. Who was that?"  
" Just some petty Necromancer, nothing to get worked over. What was he saying to you?"  
" Uh, something about magic, that's about it." He said.  
" Huh, alright then, you don't look like you're from around here..." He said, looking again at Vita.  
" I'm uh, from the village near Darkovia."  
" This is the village near Darkovia."  
William chuckled.  
" A little more near Falcon-reach." he said.  
"...Falcon-reach?" The guard asked.  
" Yeah, you know, Capital of the Grasslands?" he said. The guard just looked dazzled.  
" Right..." William said, taking a half step back from the Guards gaze.  
" Uh, oh! Welcome to Amityvale! City where the moon is always full and always out!" He said, cheerfully, walking away.  
" The moon?" he looked up. It had been night for a while, a long while, and the moon was very full, and very..There. Right in the middle of the sky, all night, it never moves.  
" Weird.." Vita said. Glowing with his white scales.  
" Are sand Dragons Supposed to glow like that?" He asked, Vita shrugged.  
" Dragon?" A Girl asked, around William's age. She had black bangs, and a black skirt, with a white Blouse under it. She had very dark circles under her eyes.  
" Uh...yeah, I'm um, a Dragonlord in training."  
" Whoa, cool..." She said.  
" I'm William" He said, extending his hand, she took it.  
" My name's Thursday. What's got ya in our Quaint little town?"  
" Yeah, Quaint's one word for it... Uh, I was just looking for a weapon."  
" A Weapon?" She asked.  
" Yeah! You know, like, to slay evil with!"  
" Ooh! That sounds fun, I think I have a place for you."  
" Really? Sweet! " He followed her.

The Lycan roared at the vampire, who scoffed.  
" Stupid beast!" He said, slashing at the beast with his Weapon, which looked painful to be cut with, especially because it was a Life drain weapon. Get cut with it and there goes your Life force.  
" What the hell is wrong with you stupid mutts!? Just die!" He cut it again, and it yelped, the Scar glowed red, but the beast didn't stop, it lunged forward and Racked it's Claws against the Vampires Chest, who Screamed.  
" GET OFF ME!" He yelped, stabbing it through the chest. The hole glowed red, and the beast turned into a Normal Man again. The Vampire pushed the corpse off of him.  
" I can't feed off of a Werewolf..." The Vampire said, touching his Bloody chest, he pulled the Sword out of the dead man.  
" Now that that's done, I need to go out, have a nice virgin for Supper." he turned around, only to be met with a Cursed feeling. A Wooden stake through the heart.  
" No.. No this isn't good at all." Were the man's last words, as the ancient power running through his still veins, the product of a Demon stealing his soul, that old, old power, rushing out of him, he burst into dust.  
" Grab the sword, burn the wolf." The man said.  
" Sir." The others said. They were all dressed the same, witch-like hats, overcoats, black pants and white button up shirts with different weapons at their sides.  
They were Slayers.  
" Sir. " One of them said, not a part of the group, but dressed the same.  
" What?" The one who staked the vampire said.  
" A fang and slayer. Near the hell mouth." The messenger said.  
" What kind?"  
" Demon."  
" Why doesn't he slay the vamp?" The Commander asked.  
" No, he's not a vampire slayer. he's a DEMON slayer."  
" He should still stake it."  
" That's the thing, she has more Demon in her than normal fangs."  
" A Lord?"  
"A Lordess. And another thing about the slayer."  
" What now?"  
" He also smells like Demon."


	9. Rising Action

" Safira, my'lady" A whisper echoed through the castle full of vampires.

" Yes, Vincent?" Safira asked, on the throne, tapping on the wine glass full of blood.

" Marceline has returned to Darkovia."

" Then she is a fool. Go take care of her."

" Yes, My'lady." The whisper faded away as fog rolled away from the castle.

" Gerrick! " Donovan ran up to the dark man.

" Yeah, Don?" He asked. He was watching an ammature adventurer trying to go through the Forest.

" The group is closing on the hellmouth..." He said.

Gerrick stared at the adventurer for a few more seconds, then watched as the trees that appeared dead came to life and ripped him apart, soaking the blood, corpse, armor and all, into the soil.

" Send Thrasher. "

" Yes, Gerrick."

" What...Is this?" Dante asked, looking around. There were rotting corpses and piles of dust that stacked higher than a Fully grown man, as well as scorches in the ground, and trees that seemingly grew randomly and had corpses on the leave less branches, impaling them. There were swords and fangs, and crossbows and stakes and guns scattered everywhere.

" A Darkovia battleground." Marceline said, walking over to one of the swords in the ground. She tried to touch it, but it sizzled her skin and she pulled away.

" Is this what's it's like...? To be a werewolf, or a Vampire?" Ginger asked, looking at a skeleton with a Blood-red sword through it's spine, and then past it's rib cage. Straight through the heart.

Marceline nodded.

" Yeah..." She said, rubbing her arms coldly.

Icarus was walking around, looking at the battlegrounds.

'Doom lord' a whisper echoed.

Icarus spun around.

" Did you say something? " He called back to the group.

" No?" Marceline called back.

" Hm..." Icarus looked around.

' They can't hear me'

' Only you'

Icarus looked around.

" Are you a ghost?" He asked, quietly so the others couldn't hear him.

'No...'

" What are you?" He asked again.

'My name...'

" Is Vincent...!" The fog that had slowly been forming around Icarus lashed out, cutting his arm.

" Now then...That's a nice drop of blood." A head poked out of the fog, allowing the drop of blood to enter his mouth.

" A Sorcerer-Vampire?" Icarus asked.

" And a Doom Lord's blood...Ahh, I think I might be a little buzzed off this..." The head said, turning back into Fog.

" Icarus looked at the scratch, which glowed red, and particles of red light floated off of it as the wound completely healed, leaving nothing but a tear in his sleeve.

" Aheheheh..." The voice echoed.

" This is going to be fun."

" Icarus!" Marceline pounded on the Fog wall, but it didn't budge.

" How did he get trapped in there?" Ginger asked.

" It was a Sorcerer." Dante said, shrugging.

" Here, i'll just." Marceline turned the necklace into the Scythe, and was about to slash through the Fog, when she was tackled by a black blur. She screamed and pushed it off of her. it was large, larger then Icarus, or Dante. It had black fur, and was very muscular, and stood on two legs. It had snow white teeth and claws, with Pure red eyes.

It Growled.

" Lycanthrope!" Dante yelled, getting out his guns.

" What?" Ginger asked, panicky, getting out her Staff.

" Werewolf." Marceline hissed.

" Thrasher... " It growled.

" It can talk?" Dante asked."

" My...Name...Is Thrasher." It roared and lunged at Dante, who flipped him away.

Through the trees, a Group of slayers was watching the ordeal.

" It's attacking the Demon."

" He's a Slayer as well."

" Right. Send H"

" Sir. H!"

" Sir."

A black blur ran out of the woods into the battlegrounds.

" Thrasher." he skidded to a stop.

The Black werewolf looked at the Slater.

" Slayer...Werewolf...Slayer..." It grumbled.

" Not...Important...Gerrick...Want, white hair...White hair dead..." It rumbled, looking back at Dante.

" White hair has to die." E mocked, holding up a Gun at Dante, but Ginger knocked it away.

" Not anytime soon." She said, glaring at him.

" You're the Mage?" H asked, earning himself an upper kick.

" Battlemage." She corrected.

Marceline looked around, and holding the Scythe put stress on her hands, the blood magic caused the magic to be drained from her not-moving veins, and it turned back into the Necklace.

All Marceline did was blink her eyes, and she was somewhere else.

" What?!" she looked around, her eyes stopping on something...odd. It looked like a Lycan, like the one in the battlefield, except, more Muscular, but it also had longer Fangs, sharper, like a Vampires, and, bat wings sprouting from it's back.

" Hello, my Queen."

" What is this place?" William asked Thursday.

" A swamp." She said, simply.

" A creepy one." He said.

" Look, I have a Garden in the center of this place, do you have any idea hwo hard it is to find Flowers that only bloom in Moonlight?" She asked.

" Alright, fine, what's keeping you from going in there yourself?" He asked her.

" Well, you see, it has some Swamp monsters."

" I can take care of them. I know some magical dragony stuff." Vita said.

Thursday shook her head.

" I don't doubt it, but, um. In the Garden, there's uh..."

" A What?" William asked.

" There's a Werewolf in My Garden."

"...Alright, fine, I guess we'll go clear it out for you. I don't know if we can kill the Werewolf-"

" Kill?! No! Don't kill any of them! Just, knock them into the Swamp water, make them faint! I'll deal with them once they've been knocked out! And don't kill the Werewolf!" Thursday exclaimed.

" Alright! Alright!" William held up his hands Defensively.

" Come on Vita."

"... Good luck!" Thursday eventually called behind them. William nodded back at her.

William and Vita were walking for a while, until Vita suddenly piped up.

" I don't like her."

William looked at him, confused.

" Why not? She seems nice enough."

" Well, yeah, besides the whole freaking out about the Monsters thing. But it's not just that. The Blue Necromancer guy, how the Guard didn't know what the Grasslands were, that freaking Constant full moon, everything about this place makes me nervous."

" Yeah...I guess I am too... But not for that reason..."

" If not that, then for what?" Vita asked. He stopped and looked at William.

" When you said you would take care of the Monsters with your powers...She didn't look at you strange."

" Why would she?"

" Because I still have the ring on. You were still speaking Draconic, and she understood you."


	10. Nightbane

Icarus looked around him.

" Ahheheheh... " The voice echoed.

" What's your name?" Icarus asked.

" Vincent..." The vampire, in the form of the dense fog, slithered and dripped like oil on his voice.

" My name's Icarus." As soon as the words left his face the fog lashed out and cut the tendon in his left, causing him to kneel.

" I KNOW WHO YOU ARE " The voice boomed like thunder.

Icarus looked around.

" I've known what you've done. With the Darkness Orb."

" I had to do that!" Icarus said, standing up just as the wound finished healing.

" If I didn't, then Sepulchure would have-" He was cut off as the fog slashed both knee's, forcing him to drop to them.

" SILENCE! YOU DID IT AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS! YOU DEFILED IT!"

" *HE* Defiled it! I did nothing but get that Necromancers hands off of it." Icarus said. The fog cut across his shoulder, and he winced.

" That necromancer was Safira's toy. And you played too rough with it. And then you put the orb in the hands of another Necromancer, and then SOMEHOW JUST ROLLED INTO YOUR FATHERS HANDS!" Sincent yelled through his form of Fog.

Icarus didn't say anything.

"... What? Got nothing left to say?" He asked. Icarus remained Stoic.

" You don't what I really hate about you? The fact that you still wear that damn helmet. It bothers me that I won't be able to see your pretty face when I cut all your skin off." He continued, a tendril of Fog obnoxiously poked at the visor, and slid down it, as if to remove it.

" Maybe we had a look... I do love red eyes." The tendril got more solid and solid under the black from the Tuxedo was visible. Just as the helmet spun off, rolling into the Fog, Icarus spun, grabbing the black part, pulling an arm, and then eventually all of Vincent into Phyisical form, slamming him on the Ground.

" Love red eyes, do you?" Icarus said. His face was just the slightest bit tan, his hair was a little unkempt, but sticking out in the same direction. He had strong features, like someone his age, gender, and position would have, but certainly not to an Obnoxious amount. Yet, stubble aside, his face seemed...Almost, innocent. He had a Stud earring on his left ear, his eyes were, of course, red, and he had a small Scar on his chin, right next to his mouth.

" What do you mean, 'get my hands Dirty' ?" Marceline asked the beast, angrilly.

" My Queen-"

" And that! Stop that! I'm not your Queen!" She shouted again.

" Yes, but, you should be." He said. Marceline was taken aback.

" What... What do you mean?" She asked, crossing her arms.

" You are the rightfull leader of Darkovia." The beast said.

" I...I'm here to rule the Vampires."

" Yes, but you have the power to rule over the Werewolfs, and the other beings that reside in this forest."

" The werewolfs won't ever listen to a Vampire."

" Aha, but you're no ordinary Vampire, are you?" It asked. Marceline shifted uncomftorably.

" All Vampires have Demon in them."

" All Vampires have a Shard of Demon in them. Very few have their blood. Even fewer have royal Demon blood. There is a very small circle of Royal Vampires with that kind of blood, it's members consist of...Oh, yes, of course...You." It said. Marceline scoffed at it.

" What do you know?"

" Well, I know that you're a vampire, and that you're father is ruler of a section of the underworld. That's two things. Oh yes, a few thing about your friends, but that's not important."

" They're not my friends." She grumbled.

" Even less important."

" Who are you?! WHAT are you?" She asked. She was getting impatient.

" Nightbane. And, can't you notice?" It asked, spreading the bat wings, darkness almost seemed to pulse from them slightly.

" I've been trying to ignore those."

" But you've heard of me?"

" Unfortunatly. Nightbane, used to have the Blade of Awe, got stolen by some Skeleton."

" To be fair, it was being controlled by quite the powerfull necromancer."

" But it was just a Normal Skeleton."

" Anyways, I think you're missing a Very important Detail." Nightbane said, taking a torch off the Wall of the ruins. They were standing in the remins of some kind of Castle, hardly standing. He walked over to the other wall, and it had bubbling potions of green liquid and plants that seemed to be reppeled by eachother.

" A few, yes." Marceline said. She continued.

" You invented the cure for Early lycanthropy and Vamprism, discovered beheading a Vampire kills them, Vampire lords are immune to Wood through the heart and Holy water but extremly vunrable to Sunlight...And also..." She said, looking at him pick up a Wine glass full of Blood, and drink it, her hands shaking slightly.

" And...?" Nightbane said, beckoning here to continue.

"And..." She breathed in and exhaled deeply.

" And, You're the first Werepyre. "

" William, you need a Weapon." Vita said, irritated.

" What do you think we're doing? " he responded.

" Getting you hooked up."

" What?" William asked, confused.

" Nothing. Well, if you don't get something to fight alongside me with soon, there's gonna be a bit of a problem."

" I will, and hey, more practice for you, right?"

" Riiight." Vita laughed.

They were walking along the bridge-like path that cut and zig-zagged through the Swamp. They were slowly progressing towards the Swamp, defeating various swamp monsters such as Sea-Weed covered ghoulish type beasts, fish people, and trees that growled.

" hey look!" Vita said exitedly, looking at a Cabin.

" It's a house?" William said.

" Come on! I'm hungry!" Vita said, flapping his wings, running to the house. William shared in his exitement, running alongside him.

They knocked on the door, and a man opened it, suprised. He had Black hair, blue eyes, pale skin, pretty healthy and clean other wise, dressed in clean clothing. Not very expensive looking clothing, but clean.

" Yes? May I help you..Two...?" He asked.

" May we have something to eat?!" Vita asked.

" Huh...What?" The man asked, looking at Vita confused.

' Like he spoke a different language...'

' Oh wait. He does.' William remembered.

" He asked if we could please take a rest?" William asked.

" You two... Are adventurers?" He asked.

" uh...Yes, yes sir." William said.

" Well...Alright, come on in. I'll get you whatever I can whip up, maybe a Bath. Don't worry, clean, hot water, I'm sure you've seen enough swamp for one day."

" Day...?" Vita asked Sceptically. William chuckled.

They had been in the cabin for about an hour, when Vita chiped in.

" William?"

" Yes?"

" The man... He's nice..."

" Yeah, he is."

" Something weird, though." Vita said.

" What is it?" William got up. They were both laying down, they were tired.

" The man didn't understand me..."

" Yes...? He's not supposed to."

" William, use your head. He didn't understand me, so it's not something to do with Darkovia."

" What doesn't have to do with Darkovia?"

" Thursday! It isn't normal in Darkovia for people to Understand Draconic."

" So...She has a Dragon Amulet?"

" So...Only dragon lords can use a Dragon Amulet?" Vita continued.

" So...She's a Dragon Lord...Ess.. Lady?" William asked.

" She could be, or she could be something completely different."


	11. Gerrick

Icarus kicked the fog on the ground, it swirled around his feet.  
" Did I hurt your feelings?" Icarus called. There was no answer.  
" I'd really like my helmet back. It's actually pretty comfortable, for the, you know, spikes and stuff. It was made just for me! It even has this little thing on the ear so my ear-ring doesn't-" He was cut off by a whipping blade of fog striking towards him, he tried to grab at it but it whipped out of reach and cut his cheek.  
" You're annoying!" Icarus whined.  
" You're confusing." Chuckled the fog.  
" Me?" He said, whimsically.  
" Yes, you, you devil of a person."  
" I'm not a Devil!"  
" No, but you have a Devil in you... Oh, quite the powerful one, nearly god-like in comparison to you." The fog whistled around him.  
" Only if it dies twice."  
" Only if it.. Wait-" he started, the fog hesitated and Icarus brought the Doom Sword down on it, the Vampire materialized.  
" WAIT, NO! I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT HOW TO DEFEAT SAFIRA!"  
" I like a challenge." He chopped the vampire's head off, and it turned to dust.

The fog cleared.

Icarus stood up.  
" Hmm..." He walked over to his helmet and picked it up, and put it on. The visor glowed and created the magic visor again.  
" That's better...Now then...Where am I?" He looked around, in an unfamiliar part of Darkovia.

Ginger's eyes fluttered open.  
" Where...Am I?" she asked, looked around.  
" On the edge of Darkovia." A man said, on the other side of bars.  
" Edge of...Wait a minute...Are these bars? Did you lock me up?!" She rattled on the bars.  
" Calm down." he said, darkly.  
" You're not the one locked up." She said. Ginger looked around. The torches revealed what she ignored before. She was on the side of the bars that looked at who was inside of them.  
" Who are you...? " She asked.  
" I have more than one name. You've met me before, that was Thrasher." The man stepped into the light, pale skin, black hair, Hazel eyes.  
" Now you see me, and my name is Shadow."

Dante drank another chalice of wine, and laughed.  
" Why do the slayers have all this food and drink? You would think they would be starving, you know, being in Darkovia and all."  
" We have a portal to Battleon that gives us food in exchange for keeping the creatures of the night at bay."  
" Well you must do a good job of it, uh...What's your name again?"  
" Slayer C. I deal with Evil centaurs."  
" There are Evil centaurs?"  
" There are evil everything's. Centaur's, Fairies-"  
" Humans?"  
" Yes... But there is only one Slayer who deals with evil humans."  
" And who is that?"  
" That would be me." Said a voice. Dante looked over to the source of the voice. Everyone did. Everyone stopped talking, as the boots of a slayer stepped down the spiral steps leading the dining room where everyone was.  
The figure took off their hat, and flipped long blonde hair out of her face.  
" My name is Slayer Z. The leader of Slayers."

William looked at the man, reading. He was in the basement, with a candlelight and Desk.  
" Excuse me, sir?"  
" Yes?" Chaney said.  
" What is in the heart of this swamp?" Vita blurted. Chaney looked at him, confused.  
" He said 'What is in the heart of the swamp?' " William translated.  
" A Garden."  
" Thursday's garden." William said.  
" Yes...Thursday...Peculiar girl." He said, flipping a page.  
" Is there a werewolf in that garden?"  
" yes." He said blatantly. William stuttered.  
" What's wrong?" Chaney asked him.  
" I just...Expected you to be more secretive about it."  
" What you expected me to be secretive about was that he was actually my brother."  
" Your WHAT?" Vita blurted again.  
" He's your brother?" William asked. Chaney turned to look at him.  
" She didn't mention that.?" Chaney asked.  
" No...? She did say something about her Amulet. "  
" The amulet is in the garden, in order to get her amulet, you'll have to defeat Lon."  
" So that's his name... Alright, come on, Vita, let's go fight us a werewolf."

" I'm going to the vampire castle." Marceline said to Nightbane.  
" What are you going to do?"  
" Kill Safira. What are you going to do?"  
" I'm going to go meet a friend."  
" A friend of mine or a friend of yours?"  
" Both."  
" A Person?"  
" Two persons...people...Thing. I'm going to go meet a friend of mine, and with them is a friend of yours."  
" Oh." Marceline nodded her head.  
" Well, have fun with that. I'm going to go take over Darkovia." She continued.  
" Have fun. Oh, Icarus is around here somewhere, he might be useful."  
" Him? I doubt it."  
" I think you may be underestimating him."  
" I think YOU may be OVERESTIMATING him." Marceline said.  
Nightbane shrugged.  
" Do whatever you like."  
" I will." Marceline turned around and walked out of the ruins.

Ginger looked at the man.  
" Shadow...What do you know about this place?"  
" Darkovia? Well, right now, a war is brewing between the vampires and werewolf's..."  
" Who are the leaders?"  
" Safira and Gerrick."  
" Gerrick. You mentioned him, who is he?"  
" He is the leader of the Werewolf's. Don't even think about fighting him, not even Icarus could defeat him."  
" You mean Marceline?"  
" What?"  
" Marceline. She's more powerful then Icarus."  
" Not if he dies." Shadow said, looking at her.  
" What do you mean?" She asked him.  
" He has a Demon sleeping in him."  
" A Demon? What kind of Demon?"  
" The kind that can't be described."  
" Because it's new?"  
" Because it's old. Older than the written and spoken language. Older than some of the gods themselves...Ironically..." He chuckled.  
" How is that Ironic?"  
Shadow looked at her.  
" You don't really know Icarus that well, do you?" he asked.  
" No..."  
" Let me tell you something about Icarus... Take him to a graveyard during the winter, hell, maybe even fall, early spring...It will begin to snow."  
" Snow...? Why?"  
" He has a Guardian..."  
" Guardian...? Guardian angel?"  
" You could say that... That is one thing that Icarus and Gerrick have in common."  
" What? They both have Guardian angels?"  
" Actually." Said a man, walking into the light.  
" More like, we've both loved our Guardian Angels." he smiled.  
Ginger's heart dropped.  
" Lord Gerrick." Said shadow, kneeling.  
Gerrick nodded.  
" You're Gerrick...?" Ginger asked.  
" You must be Ginger." He helped her up.  
" How do you know me?"  
" You and your little group are slowly becoming a little famous in Darkovia. It's actually kinda funny."  
" What do you want...?"  
" A Kingdom. The kingdom of red, for the werewolves."  
" Why?"  
" They raised me, I owe them."  
" Are you a werewolf?"  
" No...I'm just their leader. Not a werewolf. "  
" Then what are you...If not a human?" Ginger asked. His back was facing towards her now, supposedly urging her to walk with her. She reached for her fighting Staff.  
" I'm a few things." he said. Ginger's green energy wrapped around the pole, creating a spear, she charged at him. The air behind him shimmered, and the pole stopped abruptly. She could not pull the spear back, as if it has stabbed something invisible, and now could not pull it back.  
" Foolish is not one of them."


	12. Akroma

" What is this?" Ginger asked, trying to get her spear back from the air behind Gerrick.  
" Fog." He said, turning around. Shadow had cowered to the back of his cage.  
" What do you mean?" Ginger asked. Gerrick snapped his fingers, and the hallway was suddenly filled with a light fog.  
" It's a very simple spell, in reality. You enchant it on yourself, and you're surrounded by an invisible mist."  
" What'st he point of an Invisible fog?" Ginger asked, jumping back. She had her staff back, but the energy was lost in the process of releasing it.  
" For protection! Any hostile force that approaches me shall be stopped in their tracks, in which case, I cannot be assassinated, or randomly attacked." Gerrick said, sitting on a bench, putting his foot on his knee.  
" Thrasher-Shadow," She corrected herself. " Said that you sent him to kill us." Ginger said to him.  
" Is that so? Well, he isn't a liar! I knew he couldn't kill you, however." He stood up.  
" That was simply to test your strengths. Quite honestly, i'm a little disappointed. Convenient of the vampire and slayer to show up, made things more interesting. However, now I don't know where the Vampire and Doom Lord is."  
" So Marceline is a vampire..." Ginger muttered.  
" Wasn't that hard to figure out. Can't adventure in the daylight, has fangs, ash colored skin, red eyes-"  
" Icarus has Red eyes."  
Gerrick chuckled.  
" He's a Doom Lord, he has no embarrassment in that, from what I've seen. So why would all of you follow someone who, even though not at all subtly, hides her true origins? Much less intentions."  
" What exactly is her intentions?" Ginger asked, squinting, the fog was getting thicker.  
" To take over Darkovia."  
" What?" Ginger asked, shocked.  
" NO! " She heard Shadow yell.  
The rest was much like a dream, where she was falling through a pit of fire.

The slayer's headquarters shaked a bit, as if there were a small explosion not too far away.  
" What was that?" Someone asked " Are we under attack-" "-It could have been that-" " No, I heard he's-"  
" Silence." The woman on the staircase kicked the stairs with the back of her boot.  
Everyone fell quiet.  
" Slayer M!" She called to someone observing Crystal orbs.  
" Yes ma'am, confirmed to be Akroma." he called back.  
" What's Akroma?" Dante asked.  
" It means Gerrick's around, it also means that we're going out to kill him." She said, grabbing a very large gun as she walked upstairs.  
" This is not a drill." She said into a crystal, which made it so that everyone in the HQ could hear her.  
" Gerrick cast magic on our territory, that is grounds for war. We leave in Five minutes."  
" Why only Five minutes?" Dante asked a slayer Sitting next to him.  
" All Slayers should have their Weapons on hand, it's simply time to check if they work." He was inspecting his sword, which seemed to have a flame magic crystal at the hilt, probably to enchant the blade.  
" You do have your weapons with you, right?" He asked.  
" Uh, yeah." He got out his guns, Ebony and Ivory.  
" Well, make sure they work, "  
" They do." He said, walking up the stairs.

" Maaaarceliiiiiiiiine!" Icarus called at her.  
She grumbled.  
" I already told you!" She yelled back at him.  
" I don't want your help! "  
" Wanting and needing are two different things!" He called back.  
If Marceline had a pillow, she would scream into it. And then she would proceed to rip it apart and pretend it was Icarus.  
"Hey." Icarus said cheerily, next to her now.  
" 'Hey' " She said, scowling, mocking his cheery attitude, she kept walking, Icarus kept along.  
" Why do you insist on keeping here? You could leave, I got here save and sound."  
" Yeah, but like, I wanna fight something."  
" Didn't you fight that other Vampire?"  
" He fell on my sword, and died."  
" Is your sword made out of wood?"  
" It's magical!"  
" Is it a magical vampire sword slaying sword?"  
"...Maaaaybeee."  
" So you killed it?"  
"...Maaaaybeee."  
Marceline sighed.  
" Look, I think it's great you wanna help, and stuff, but don't. I don't want your help, and I certainly don't want your company."  
" But-"  
" No, I don't need your help or company either."  
" No really-"  
" Icarus, I-"  
" Turn around!" he said, she flinched, and slowly turned around. There was a fire, escaping a building, not too far away.  
When they reached it, a figure walked out of the gaping hole in the building, dragging another person, but he collapsed. Icarus and Marceline ran over, and carried the two out, and into a nearby house.  
Ginger's eye's fluttered open, and she saw a red light.  
" What...?" She winced, and saw Icarus' hand was the source of that light. When it went over her wounds, they healed up.  
" Where' Gerrick...?" She said, trying to get up, but wincing and falling back onto the bed.  
" Who's Gerrick?" Icarus asked.  
" He...Is in control of the werewolves." Ginger said.  
" Where's shadow?" She asked.  
" Who's Shadow?" He asked again.  
" He...was the werewolf that attacked us. He protected me when I passed out."  
" You passed out?" Icarus asked.  
" Yeah, I usually don't make fire with my magic, but when I do, it takes alot out of me."  
" Hm. Oh, and Marceline's putting out that fire." He said.  
" Marceline...Icarus, Marceline, uh,"  
" Is a vampire?" He said.  
" Well, yeah, but, the reasons he wanted to come here in the first place."  
" Uh huh?"  
" I think it might be to take over Darkovia."  
" Probably."  
" What?" Ginger asked, getting up, expecting a shock of pain, but no such sting attacked her.  
" Well I mean, she's vampire royalty."  
" How do you know...?" Ginger asked, whispering more now.  
" Well, for one, she's a vampire, that's obvious."  
" Yeah?"  
" But she has gray skin, and red eyes."  
" Don't all vampires?"  
" Vincent didn't, neither does most vampires. They're pale, and their eyes are usually the same as when they were alive."  
" So Marceline...?"  
" Probably a Demon, or Dark fairy when she was born, then turned into a Vampire later in life."  
" So that makes her royalty?"  
" Only reason she would be here. Otherwise she would be shunned for being a crossbreed. "  
" Then what is Safira?"  
" The current queen? She's a Lordess. "  
" Which means?"  
" Which means she's old. Very, very old."  
" Ew. Is she wrinkly?"  
" Actually, she's kinda..." Icarus looked at her for a second.  
" Never mind. She appears as she did when she was turned, in her prime. She was one of the first vampires to exist. An old one. "  
" How many old ones are there?"  
" Well, there are plenty of old vampires, but the circle of originals? There were 15, but now there's only 2"  
" Safira and Marceline?"  
" I doubt it. It was Safira, and then my imagination would like to believe that the other one is whomever turned Marceline in the first place."  
"...Ginger?" A male voice said, from around the corner.  
" Huh? Oh, Shadow!" She said, he retreated further behind the corner.  
" I, uh...You're alright?" He asked the red head.  
" Yes...You wanna come sit next to me?" She asked.  
" No thanks...Just...Making sure you were alright..." He said.  
" Well, I am, thank-" But he was gone. She sighed.  
" He seems nice, have you met his daddy?" Icarus mocked.  
" Shut up."

Marceline sighed. The embers were all gone now. her keen ears heard everything the two were saying.  
" Got me all figured out, huh?" She sighed, walking in the mostly exploded house.  
" What caused this?"  
" Gerrick." Said a boys voice.  
Marceline spun around, looking for the source.  
" Who's there?" She called.  
A boy with locks of blonde hair walked out, in dirty clothes.  
" William?" She asked, squinting her eyes.  
" No. My name is Donovan." He said.  
" Donovan...?" She asked, looking into the boys eyes, her mind flashed to the image of the golden wolf.  
" You're a Lycan..." She said.  
" And you're a vampire..." He said, scratching at the ashy walls, getting soot underneath his in-need-of-a-clipping fingernails.  
" Gerrick was here?" She asked, taking a step towards the boy, he didn't flinch, but he did nod. The boys face was expressionless.  
" What did he want? Why did he attack my friend?"  
" Thrasher was protecting her. He wanted to talk to her, but she attacked him. So he attacked back." He said. A piece of the corner he was clawing at fell off. He watched his fall and hit the floor, exploding into splinters and tinier pieces with a small puff of smoke dissipating into freedom.  
" How did he attack her? " She asked, taking a step.  
" With a Spirit."  
"Of?" She took another step.  
" Fire."  
" What class of Spirit? Fairy? Demon?" Another.  
" Angel."  
And with that, Marceline was in the heart of where the explosion occurred. And she could never feel more sick in a place full of death.

William side stepped a claw, that destroyed part of the edge of the garden. Both parties were being special careful not to hurt the flowers. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find flowers that bloom in the moonlight? DO YOU?  
Vita shot a small burst of light at the Lycan, singing it's silvery shoulder, he yelped in pain.  
" Lon! We know your brother, Chaney! Can you please calm down?" William asked. Lon just roared and tried to attack again, William barely dodging.  
" Please, Lon! Do you know where Thursdays amulet is?" He asked.  
The claw stopped.  
" Thurs...Day...?" He asked.  
" yes!" William said.  
" Black...Hair?" He grumbled.  
" Yes! Yes, black hair!"  
" Black hair...Must...Protect..."  
" yes, you have to-Wait, why?"  
" Black hair...Father, get mad. Take away, Howl."  
" Her..Father?"  
" But you..Not black hair...You...Not father...You, are food." He howled.  
A steady beam of light hit the werewolf's back, earning another howl, but this time, of pain.  
Lon fell over.  
" Good job Vita!" William called.  
" Thanks!" The little dragon flew to his side.  
" Yeah, thanks Vita!" A girl called. It was Thursday, she hoped onto the little garden island in the swamp from the wooden bridge.  
" Thursday!" William said, running over to greet her.  
" Lon was saying something about-"  
" Who's Lon?" She asked.  
" Werewolf."  
" Oh!"  
" Well, he was saying how he needed to protect you, and your father was gonna like, take his howl away."  
" My father?"  
" Yeah,"  
" That's weird...I don't even know my father. " Thursday shrugged.  
" Hey!" She said, running over to the unconscious werewolf, grabbing a chain on the neck, that was concealed by the fur.  
" What is it?" William asked.  
" My Amulet!" She shrieked with joy, unlatching it and putting it on herself, not minding that she took it from a big hairy wolf-man.  
" William, Vita, thank you!" She hugged them both, Vita awkwardly, but still, hugged nonetheless.  
" How can I ever repay you?" She shrieked again.  
" Weapon weapon weapon weapon." Vita was whispering, William shot him an amused glare.  
" Oh, of course! Yeah, come on!" She said, leading him away.

They were in front of a cave, but in it's entrance was a magical wall, transparent, but still glowing with energy.  
Thursday got out some kind of amulet.  
" What's that?" William asked.  
" This?" She asked, holding it so he could see it. It somewhat resembled what Icarus had. a Dragon wrapping around a gem as though it were it's egg. Except, the Dragon was silver, not gold, and the gem was blue, not red, and also scratched up and a big crack in the center.  
" I found it on the ground a while back!"  
" It looks like a Dragon amulet."  
" Really? Ooooh."  
" Explains how she could understand me." Vita said.  
" I guess so." William said.  
She used the amulet to open the portal, and they descended into it.

" Do you think she's dead?" A woman asked. She had long flowing purple hair, some kind of glowing armor, pale skin, Purple eyes, and a large golden and white sword at her side.  
" I don't think so. She seemed strong enough to survive a single Fury Wing." Gerrick said, twirling a drink in a glass.  
" Do you think she'll be a problem?"  
" Now? I doubt it. She definitely has potential. More than she knows what to do. Same goes for the white haired boy." He said, tapping his foot boredly.  
" What about the vampire? And the doom lord?"  
" I doubt those two have much more to progress. They seemed like they've reached their peak, no need to worry, Akroma." He said, looking at her.  
" You're right, Gerrick, I should probably stop worrying."  
" You are the Angel of Fury after all." He said, standing up.  
" Among other things." She said, smiling slyly.  
" You should know that, more than anyone else." She continued, walking towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
" I suppose I would." He said, putting his drink down, grinning.


	13. Thursday

Thursday walked William and Vita through the hallways of the cave.  
" Where are we going?" William asked.  
" To get you a weapon!" She said, cheerily, she was looking at her Amulet that she retrieved from Lon, and her "Dragon Amulet" both quite fondly.  
" Why do you think that Amulet looks different then Icarus'?" William asked.  
" Huh? Oh, maybe because it's separated from it's Dragonlord." She shrugged.  
" Maybe!" William agreed.  
" Where do you think he is?" Vita asked.  
" No idea! "  
" What do you think happened to his dragon now that he lost his Amulet?" He asked.  
" Still no Idea. I just carry it around because there are alot of magical barriers, and this unlocks alot of them. "  
" Alot? Are there some that it doesn't unlock?"  
" Just the one. The one we're going to! " She said.  
" If it can't unlock it, then why are we going to it?"  
" Because now that I have my other Amulet, I should be able to break the spell."  
" Hm..." William said, running his hand along the cave walls as he walked.  
" Do you think there are any monsters in there?"  
" I doubt it. Most monsters tend to stay inside the Forest."  
" Hmm...Have you ever been outside Darkovia? Or Amityvale, for that matter?"  
" No...No one has, people born in Amity-Vale are always too afraid to leave, we might get attacked on the way out. There was one guy, a while back, who escaped, and to our knowledge, is still alive."  
" What was his name?"  
" No one remembers, it was a while ago."  
" But, if it was that long ago, shouldn't he be dead?"  
" What? No, it wasn't THAT long ago."  
" Wouldn't the people of Amity-Vale remember his name if he was that important?"  
" You ask alot of questions" Thursday giggled.  
" Well I'm curious. This guy, did he have any powers?" Before she could answer, the cave began to shake, and a stone fell from the ceiling. William pushed Thursday out of the way, and Vita pushed William out of the way, and he maneuvered around to avoid it.  
The giant boulder crashed on the cave floor, sending an echoing BANG around.

William coughed, fanning away the dust, and debris. When he could open his eyes, he saw nothing but darkness.  
" Hello?!" He called.  
'William?' He heard a faint voice call. It was Thursday!  
" Thursday! Are you alright?!" He yelled.  
" Yeah! Where's Vita?!" She called. William looked around for the warm golden glow, but it was no where to be found.  
" I'm over here!" Said another voice. It was indeed Vita's.  
" Are you alright?" He called.  
" Yeah! I can the exist, do you want me to go get help?" Vita yelled.  
" Yes, please!" William said. He could hear the little dragons claws click on the stone floor as he ran out the way they came.  
" Let's try to meet up!" Thursday said.  
" Okay! I think I can feel my way through the cave! "  
" Me too! "  
And with that, William was feeling his way through the pitch black darkness of the cave. Without Vita next to him, he felt considerably colder, and more exposed.  
" Hello?" He called.  
No answer.  
" Anyone!" He called. Just his echo calling back.  
After a while of walking, something skittered close to his feet, and he recoiled back, against the wall.  
" Who's there!?" He yelled.  
" Quite down!" Hissed a voice. A very familiar voice.  
" You...You're from Amity-Vale! " he said,  
" Yes, I'm the one who greeted you when you first arrived. "  
" Your name...It's Zorbak, right?" William asked.  
" Yes..." A flash of light burst forth, it was a floating ball of fire, and William kept his rising fear under control, images of Princess Scarlet slaughtering his village with fire magic flashed in his mind.  
When he regained his composure, he saw what the light revealed. A short man, if you could call him that. He was only about 3 ft tall, dark blue fur, red eyes, Bunny like ears, although several small pieces and a chunk near the top was missing. He had nothing but a tattered gray cloak, and a wooden staff with a small skull on the top. Not possibly human, maybe a Fairy skull.  
" What are you? " William asked.  
" A Moglin. "  
" Moglin? Those are supposed to be happy little creatures. And they don't speak my language." William said.  
" What makes you think I'm like most Moglins? And also, what makes you think you're speaking your own language." Zorbak said back.  
" Come on, before she finds us."  
" Who?"  
" That girl you were with."  
" Thursday? We need to save her, too!"  
" Trust me, this cave wouldn't keep her under control."  
" What do you mean?" He asked, walking with him, simply for the comfort of light.  
" She's not a normal girl. Did you not see her Amulet."  
" Which one?"  
" What do you mean which- She has her other amulet?!" Zorbak said, turning around the look at him with rage filled eyes.  
" Y-Yes! Vita and I defeated the werewolf who had it!"  
" Do you have any Idea what you've done?! Now she has her Dragon Amulet AND her Necro Amulet... " Zorbak said, pinching the bridge of his nose.  
" But...She said she found that Amulet on the ground."  
" Lies! She killed a Dragonlord for that amulet. That's why the gem is blue, and Cracked! And that Necro Amulet, is indeed hers. All spirits who escape the underworld get one..." He seethed.  
" Spirit?" William asked, scared.  
" Yes! Thursday is a ghost. Not just any ghost, who had unfinished business and stayed here, no! She passed on, but wasn't quite content with her stay in hell, so she made her way back up. Death gave her a nice pretty necklace to congratulate her. Do you have any idea what she can do now that she has two?"  
"..Open that magic barrier, thing?"  
" YES! SHE CAN OPEN THAT MAGIC BARRIER THING! DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S IN THERE?!" He yelled at him, William was honestly terrified of the little Moglin. Despite being slightly gruesome in appearance and below knee level, he was waving around fire.  
" No..." William stepped back.  
" She can get the Dragon..." He breathed heavily.  
" The dragon?"  
" Of the dragon lord he killed. If a Dragon dies, then it dies, if it's Lord dies, the Dragon falls into a state similar to death, but can be revived if the amulet is brought back.  
" Why didn't she bring it back to begin with, then?" William asked.  
" Because she wasn't strong enough to break the barrier. Her time in this world was great, but just weak enough to not break through the barrier. Her Necro Amulet sucks in the energy of death around her, so she put it on a Werewolf, designed to protect her when she was alive. "  
" By her father?"  
" Will get to him later, but yes. She ordered Lon to kill anyone who dared enter the Swamp, but the spell was weakened by her "Death", so he only protected her garden. Although, many people came to pay their respects, and that was all she needed. More came to avenge, more died, eventually, Thursday needed someone to get the amulet back for her, as she had no power without it."  
" So she got a Dragon and Dragonlord to do it for her?"  
" Exactly. Once she uses the Necro amulet to open the portal, and then the Dragon Amulet to revive the Dragon, she's going to merge with it, becoming a very weak Primus."  
" What's a Primus?"  
" Tell me boy." Zorbak stopped again to face him.  
" Have you ever gotten the feeling that someone was watching you in the dark? When your house is empty, or your back is turned, and your eyes are closed? Ever see something in the corner of your eye, and when you turn to look at it, it isn't there? " Zorbak asked, the creeping feeling along William's spine intensified every sentence.  
" Kind of like the feeling i'm getting right now?" he asked.  
" Kind of." Zorbak looked around him.  
" Come on." He said , and kept walking. William didn't midn the fire too much now, he just didn't want to be in the dark after that.  
" Primus are not something you want on your hands, even if they're weak. " he continued.

" Get back here!" Marceline yelled, but the golden wolf had already run off.  
" What was that?" Icarus asked.  
" A lycan, works for Gerrick." Marceline said, watching the last of the Gold fur disappear into the woods.  
" That seems to be a thing. We run into werewolf's who work for Gerrick and Vamps who work for Safira. Isn't there anyone out here who doesn't work for someone?"  
" I doubt it." Marceline said, sighing. Somewhere, far, far into the woods, a bell rang. A church bell, deep and low, echoing. Shivers went down Marceline's spine.  
" What is it?" He asked.  
" Did you not hear that?" Marceline asked.  
" hear what? " Icarus asked, looking into the woods.  
" Is it some kind of super vampire hearing?" He asked.  
" Must b-... You know I'm a vampire?"  
" I'm not stupid Marcy!" He stuck a tongue out at her.  
" I suppose not. And don't ever, call me that, again." Marceline sighed, looking off into the direction of the bell, thinking.  
Something in her head clicked.  
" That was the vampire castle!" She gasped.  
" Guys!" They heard Ginger call from inside the house.

" Yeah?" They asked, looking at her. She was completely fine now. There were some clothes in the abandoned house that more or less resembled hers, and she was wearing those rather than the burnt, destroyed ones.  
" What's wrong with him?" She asked, looking at Shadow, who was touching the glass of the window, looking at the opposite side of the forest that Marceline was.  
" The werewolf's probably called him. " Icarus said.  
" Why?"  
" Well, I think that a battle's about to break out."  
" It is. Gerrick and his angels will slay the vampires, and the slayers." Shadow said, almost trance like. Marceline walked over, and looked at the back of his neck. She scratched it, drawing blood, then quickly recoiled, covering her nose.  
" Ah!" Shadow put a hand over where she scratched him.  
" What was that for?" He asked, looking at her.  
" Are you out of your trance?""  
What trance?" He asked.  
" I suppose he is." Ginger said.  
" Alright. We better get moving, I have a feeling that a battle's about the erupt, and we're gonna be in the middle of it."  
" Shadow and I will stay." Ginger said.  
" What?" Marceline asked, sounding a little more concerned than she would have liked, earning a grin from Icarus.  
" Well, I'm fine now! And besides, Dante might be here, you heard him talking about the Slayers. "  
" Why should we care about him? he just wanted to be with the slayers, now he is." Marceline said.  
" yeah, but he did help us back with the Dunewyrms." Ginger said.  
" ...Fine, stay here and get killed for all I care." Marceline said, dismissively.  
" Icarus, are you coming?" She asked.  
" Yup!" He ran to catch up with Marceline.  
" Be careful!" He called back to them as they dissipated into the woods, towards the Vampire castle.

Dante walked outside of the cave that disguised the headquarters for the slayers.  
" So, is this like, a full blown attack?"  
" Two of five seals have been broken." A slayer said next to him.  
" What does that mean?"  
" If all five Darkovian seals are broken, the Primus will escape." he continued.  
" What's a Primus?"  
" Thing that'll plunge the world in darkness if it escapes. No one knows much about it, other than it's evil."  
" Hm..." Dante said, looking at his black and white guns.  
" We're going to end the feud between Werewolf's and vampires here and now!" Slayer Z said, on a rock, in the front of the small army.  
" We use everything in our power to defeat these forces of evil! No laws on the battlefield. To war." That last part she said wasn't a yell, but her voice still projected strongly enough so that all the slayers took to running in a single direction.  
Dante ran as well, although, he did have a peculiar feeling about all of this.

Nightbane looked through the two mirrors. One showed Gerrick and the werewolves, the other Safira and the vampires.  
" Almost...Everything is almost complete." Nightbane said.  
" Soon," Nightbane tossed aside a blanket revealing a glowing symbol, with smaller odd symbols glowing on it.  
" You'll soon be free, my Master."


	14. Light

" March. " Was all Safira said through smiling red lips, and her army of vampires ripped through the darkness of the eternal night, leaves following behind, too slow to keep up with them, the wind was with them. Meanwhile, werewolves teared through the forest floor as if they were on a hunt. Which they were. All the while in a third direction the Slayers set up strategic placements of who goes where.  
And, of course,  
Ginger and Shadow, where in an abandoned, and misplaced house, the only structure for a long while.  
And they conversed.

" Do you think we're going to be alright?" Ginger asked Shadow.  
" Yes, I think we are. " He said.  
"... Are you going to turn into Thrasher when the fighting starts?"  
"... No... I have my own power I can rely on, I don't have to turn into a Werewolf." He explained.  
" What kind?" She asked.  
" You couldn't tell by the name?" He asked, grinning small-like. A small black whip separated itself from his shadow. The tendril flowed up and pushed a loose strand of her hair back.  
" What about you?" He asked.  
She grinned, and a small ribbon of green energy escaped her fingers, and wrapped with the shadow.  
" Let's make it out of this alive." She said.  
"... We will." He nodded.

The vampires were bloodthirsty, you could tell by the howls of laughter as they ran with the wind, hardly visible. They were so focused on getting to the battlefield they hardly noticed Icarus and Marceline sneaking by them. They were so ignored, in fact, everyone was gone from the Castle, and they could more or less just walk in. They even left the bridge over the moat open.  
Marceline destroyed the large wooden doors that stood in their way.  
" Come on." She said, floating, no attempt to be quiet. Icarus didn't seem bothered by it, he was looking at the scenery around him, the almost mind boggling castle, depressing in appearance, but nearly magical by just being the way it is. A vampires. One of THE vampires, an old one, the vampire queen's.  
Marceline and Icarus ascended the spiraling stairs and many levels of the castle. Not a vampire in sight.  
And suddenly, they were in a larger room, carpeted floor, and two life sized statues of what looked like humanoid gargoyles.  
" Vampire Lords." Marceline said.  
" Or statues of them." Icarus said.  
' Not quite.' Said a voice, seemingly from all directions.  
" Who's there?" Icarus asked, turning around, but no one was there.  
The voice chuckled.  
" Who do you think? The only vampires to stay behind the fires of war, would be the queen, obviously. " The voice increased in volume, and was like she was in the room with them, but she wasn't.  
" Safira." Marceline said.  
" I'm just beyond these doors, one of you can go through, the other one, has to play with my pets." She said.  
Icarus and Marceline looked at each other, confused.  
Then suddenly, the two statues began to move, dust fell from the crevices as it's joints came to life, and it's face broke from it's previous expression to an enraged one, growling from the bottom of their chests, the stone grey color crumbled away into sleek black, and then, the two vampire lords were free, and they roared something awful.  
" Go!" Icarus said to Marceline.  
" But-"  
" No! Go take over Darkovia, I can handle myself." He grinned.  
"...Fine!" Marceline said, running over to the door, and kicking it open.  
Next thing she knew, the door was about 20 yards away, and in front of her, up some stairs and on a throne, grinning the perfect red lips, contrasting the moonlight-like pale skin, and dark eye shadow, with Hazel eyes, and black hair. A dress that showed the outline of her body perfectly, with the upper part barely containing the queen's bosom, and small, little bat wings on her shoulder blades.  
" Marceline, so good to see you again." She grinned.

Icarus looked around him, the two vampires lords walking over to empty suits of armor's holding large spears, they ripped the spears away from them, knocking the suits of armor away swiftly.  
" Right then, now that we're on equal grounds." Icarus swished his sword from his back, and held it, the blade facing away from him, he bent one knee a bit, and put the foot more away from himself, and the other one more behind himself.  
" Okay, come on then." Icarus said. The two vampire lords surged at him, and he jumped up, over them, kicking one in the head, and it fell to the ground.  
" Maybe this will be easier than I thought." Icarus said, eyebrows raised.  
The vampire lord that was still standing took his spear and thrust it into the one on the ground.  
" Um." Icarus said, looking at the scene in confusion.  
The punctured Lord began to turn to smoke, the black whips going up and into the Standing one, he grew larger, his fangs larger, his skin darker than black, and tougher looking than before, and when the other lord was completely gone, the standing lord had four arms, and he twirled the two spears with ease, four giant bat wings appeared behind him, and they flared.  
" Okay," Icarus started, the lord roared.  
" Maybe not."

William was walking with Zorbak, keeping attention to the darkness around him.  
" Why did you come to Amity-Vale in the first place?" He asked out of the blue. William flinched.  
" I...I was looking for a weapon."  
" And why would a boy like you do that?"  
" Well, I'm a Dragonlord, so, Icarus said I needed a weapon."  
" Icarus? "  
" Yeah, he's this Doom lord who-"  
" A DOOM LORD?! " Zorbak turned to look at him, William nearly fell over."  
" Wh-what's wrong?" He stuttered.  
" Doom lords are EVIL! That's why they have DOOM in their name!" Zorbak scolded.  
" B-But he healed me!" He said.  
" He healed you?" Zorbak asked.  
" Yes! When Scarlet attacked my village, I was burned up pretty bad, but when I was sleeping, he like, used this magic on me and healed me!"  
" Doom Prevention?" Zorbak asked, tapping his chin with his paw.  
" What?"  
" Doom Lords are just that, they control Doom, they can take the essence of one's doom and turn it into sort of an Energy, using their own Magical stamina, of course. "

Icarus brought the sword down on the Mega-Vampire Lord, merely scratching it, he jumped back as a flurry of Spear stabs rushed towards him, earning himself many cuts.  
" Of course, this means that they can reverse Doom as well. "

The cuts glowed with a red energy, and small specks of red energy blew away, leaving his skin unmarked.

" While there is an exception to this."  
" What's that?" William asked, curious."  
Icarus was slashed across the abdomen, ripping his shirt, the wound healed when he jumped away, but his stomach was showing, and he has several scars.  
" When the Doom Lord is injured while extremely emotional, it leaves scars. "  
" I thought Doom Lords were evil? How can they be emotional?"  
" Even the cruelest of Beings can be Emotional."

Icarus twirled around and slashed the creature's back, while his Sword was wrapped in the red energy, he then jumped back and slashed it overhead style with both hands.  
" Doom Fang." He in canted, sending a small wave of energy from the sword, smashing into the creature with a loud crack.

" All Doom Lords have their own special weapon." Zorbak continued.  
" Where do they get it from?"  
" Their soul. In a time where they're faced with actual life or death, despite their regenerative abilities, they conjure a powerful weapon from the deepest part of their soul, creating a unique Doom Weapon. "

Icarus spin kicked the creature in mid air, dodging a swish at his feet, and then slashed the creature across the chest with the sword.  
" So a weapon that no one else has?"  
" In a way, yes. And if the Icarus you're talking about is the Icarus I think you're talking about, then his weapon should be expecially unique."  
" Why's that?"  
" Icarus' soul is unlike that of any Doom Lord."  
" How so?"

The creature recoiled from a blast of energy that Icarus shot from his hand, and then smashed it's two free arms into him, sending him sliding across the floor.

" Because inside him,"

Icarus' stomach burned hot, and turned red, and he surged forward, the sword pulsing red, he slashed in one fell swoop, decapitating the creature in one motion, and then the red was gone.  
" Sleeps a demon."

Icarus panted.  
" Phew, that was some fight!" He said, getting up. He walked over to the door, and tried the handle, but the door wouldn't budge.  
" What, the..." He turned around, to see the Vampire lord had not turned into dust, only the head had, and from the severed neck, the purple blood boiled, and bubbled and steamed, and from it grew a second head, the head of the vampire lord the first one had absorbed.  
It snarled.  
" Oh, crap."

Marceline looked up at the queen.  
" I'm come here to usurp you of your throne." Marceline said.  
" So I've been told." Safira grinned.  
" Do you accept the challenge?"  
" I always accept a Challenge to my throne. It's quite comfortable."  
" I'll make that observation by myself." Marceline said. Her necklace glowed, and the crescent moon connected ends, and become a circle, then a red sphere, the blood full moon. The energy turned loose, and expanded, exploding into a flurry of razor ribbons, then tied together into a pole, and a crescent shaped blade erupted from one side, at the end, and then the energy was cast away, revealing the Scythe.  
" This is my weapon of choice! "  
" A blood Scythe, hm? Interesting. Allow me to retrieve mine." She held out her hand to the side, and from a chest, some invisible force opened it, and pulled an axe-like weapon from it, going straight to her hand.  
" This is the first slayer's weapon. See?" She said, her voice smooth as ever. On one side, was a Cross in the Handle, it didn't affect her at all however.  
On the other end, was a Wooden stake, sleek and dark, it looked like it hadn't pierced a single vampire, but Marceline could tell, it had, it had gone through armies of bloodthirsty creatures of the night.  
And of course, the axe, black at the base and red at the blade. It looked strong enough the decapitate a 1000 year old oak tree in one swoop. Perfect for decapitating Vampires.  
" Now, shall the dance begin?" She stood up, and as she did, the small wings on her back extended, and the candles in the room seemed to dim, and the walls seemed to get further apart, and the moonlight from the outside seemed to be blocked more and more by the progressively opaque windows, getting more and more tinted.  
" Yes, it shall."

Werewolf's claws ripped apart vampires, and vampire weapons ripped apart werewolf's. Silver bullets and wooden arrows flew in all directions, killing them off, while slayers were dropping like flies, getting their neck broken, getting their veins run dry of any blood.  
And in the center, black tendrils and Green flashes occurred, stabbing and cutting at all the creatures, and slayers coming at them.  
Ginger and Shadow were doing the most damage in the entire battlefield.  
Dante watched as many of the people he was, not half an hour ago, eating and drinking and laughing with, die at his feet. Drowning in their own blood, or having no blood at all. Their ribs broken, their jaws detached, their weapons snapped in half and thrown away.  
" Keep your Ground!" Slayer Z yelled.  
" Kill off anything that doesn't have a slayer's coat! ANYTHING THAT MOVES!" She yelled, turning swiftly and shooting through three vampires at once with the high powered gun, blowing their heads off, they reduced to dust.  
" Fog. " Dante heard someone say, when he turned around, no one was there. He continued fighting, watching more slayers progressively fall away, and somehow, a large amount of fog rolled into the area, concealing the fight, but he didn't stop.  
" Keep your eyes peeled!" He heard Slayer Z say, but he saw no more slayers around him, not living, he could no longer hear the clashing of their weapons, or the shooting of their guns.  
He ran back to where Slayer Z was, and right as he reached close enough to view her, a man, Dark skinned, dark clothing, a tail coat and all, with Golden eyes, take Slayer Z's beaten head in his hands, and swiftly break her neck, her hat falling off, and her blonde hair swishing around, and then falling with her as she fell to the ground, lifeless.  
" NO!" Dante yelled, shooting two large bursts of Energy at the man, but something protected him, blue feathers came into his view as he realized that a winged woman-an angel- had appeared to block the blasts.  
" Angel Uriel, angel of protection." The man said. The angel looked surprised at the blast that hit her wing.  
" Demon." Her voice rang through the field.  
" A Demon, huh? Interesting. " He waved his hand, and the angel dissipated, and he clenched his hand, and the energy that was left behind structured a new woman, a new angel.  
" Angel Gadreel, angel of swordplay " He said, and a black haired woman appeared, with brown wings, she held two swords in her hands, and she attacked Dante, despite his bullets surprising the angel, probably because it was the energy of a Demon, Dante was knocked unconscious.  
" Shadow! Come on!" Ginger yelled, running, she tripped over someone. When she turned to expect another dead werewolf, she saw Dante's unconscious form.  
" Oh my god, I found him!" She shouted, Shadow emerged from the crowd of people. The random fog that had appeared was clearing.  
" Watch my back." She said, and he nodded. Ginger carried Dante, and Shadow helped, extra careful to his surroundings, slashing away at any creature who got too close.  
They escaped the battlefield, the remaining fog and fighting a while away from them.  
" It's okay, we're safe, we're okay." Ginger said, breathing heavily.  
" Shadow," she said, looking at him.  
" We made it." She said, smiling brightly.  
" yeah..." He said, voice hoarse. Ginger looked at him confused.  
" We did." he smiled, although tears were swelling in his eyes. He fell over, a dagger in his back.  
" What...Shadow?" She asked, stumbling over to him, and then falling to her knees.  
" Shadow?" She asked again, there was no response.  
" Dante!" She screamed at the sleeping form.  
" Wake up! Please, help me!" She yelled again at him. He did not wake up.  
" Shadow!" She yelled at the black haired young man again. No response.  
She ripped part of his shirt off and quickly pulled the dagger out of his back, hearing an unsheathing noise as she did so, she nearly vomited when she realized what it was. The dagger had cut clean through his spine, and the sound was metal scraping on bone.  
" Come on shadow!" She cried, putting the ripped shirt on the wound, keeping the bleeding at bay, but the blood was slowing. Not because the pressure being applied was working, because his heart was no longer beating. All life and light was void from his eyes. Just the last sad smile plastered to his face, tears flowing from Ginger's eyes onto the man's face.  
" Shadow..." She whimpered, hardly legible now, softly sobbing on his lifeless form.  
" Please no..." She whispered again.  
" Come back "

Zorbak threw a fireball at the wall, and it collapsed.  
" Oh, look who made it." Thursday said, looking at a magical barrier.  
" Thursday! " Zorbak said, holding up his staff, Thursday flicked her wrist, and Zorbak was thrown back, along with William.  
She took off the purple amulet and put it against the barrier, it shattered, along with the magic wall. And she stepped inside whatever was on the other side.  
" No! " Zorbak said, trying to get up, but he coughed in pain, two of his ribs were broken.  
" I'll stop her!" William said, getting up and running towards her.  
" Be careful!" Zorbak weakly yelled.  
When William ran in.  
" Thursday!" he yelled. She turned around and grinned at him."  
" Thanks again for getting my Amulet, I'll have to pay you back sometime." She dropped the blue dragon amulet on a pale, half grown dragon that looked lifeless, and it shattered on it, and color sprang through the dragon's body.  
" No!" William ran towards her, but Thursday turned Transparent, and stepped into the dragon, and an explosion that seemed to suck all the light that crystals on the walls were emitting away, William was sent flying again, and into the stone wall, knocking the breath out of him.  
" When he could see again, she saw Thursday, smiling slyly. Instead of the blouse and skirt she WAS wearing, she was wrapped in a dark, ragged, black cloak, her skin was more pale, and her eyes had turned from purple, to plain red.  
She grinned again, then turned into a black image, and zipped away.  
The Primus was free. 


	15. And then Darkness

" When flames of the forge spark, and flames of the shine." Nightbane read from an old looking book.  
" Then the gate will open for the servant to pour his blood, and for the darkness to rise. " He continued, casting a short glance at the blade on the table, still slightly stained from his blood, and the symbol below him glowing.  
" Ahh, the only thing left now, is for the battle to cease." He said, putting the book down, looking into the mirrors. The scenes were the same now, just through different eyes. The first seal was broken when Ginger released her power to the max, killing the Mage Slayer, and that caused for Akroma to cast a Fury Wing on her, breaking the second seal. Those two complete, it was possible for Nightbane to spill his blood on the sensitive Seal, breaking it, and if the humming of the seal's intensity was correct, that escaped Spirit had successfully became a Primus. The only seal left unbroken is on the battlefield, when enough blood of Werewolves and Vampires and Slayers are spilled, the seal will be broken, and then his Master will be free.  
Nightbane looked at the vampire looking glass, and tapped it with his claw, and the scene changed. Icarus was fighting the Vampire lord, still. He had used most of his energy in the first fight, and if he had known that it had two lives, he wouldn't have gone all out, for now he was tired.  
The scene changed again, and it was Marceline fighting Safira. The two weapons clashing, and Marceline's skin starting to sizzle when she got too close to the axe, with the cross on one end. It was a wonder how the scythe did not get cut clean through.  
Nightbane got out a book, and turned to a certain page.  
" Blood weapons," he read.  
" gain their strength from the magic of the blood in the veins of those who wield them." He looked at Marceline through the mirror.  
" Heh, an Old One is her sire, and her father is an underworld King. No wonder the scythe is so strong. I do wonder where she received it from." He said, flying up to one of the higher shelf's, he retrieved another book, and floated in the air as he flipped pages, tossed the book, got another one, flipped, tossed, etc, until he found was he was looking for.  
" ' Sanguinem Luna, a masterpiece forged by an unknown smith that left his symbol as a crescent moon. Luna was his last creation before never creating anything again, disappearing off the face of Lore. ' " He read.  
" Hmm..." He floated back down to the mirror and looked at the two fighting.  
" Interesting. I will miss that vampire once darkness falls. Oh well." He turned the mirror back to the battlefield, and continued to watch.

Ginger watched the embers burn. Despite her best efforts, she could not wake Shadow. She did not have the strength to bury him, not out of lack of it, out of Exhaustion. She was tired. So tired.  
But she couldn't go to sleep. She looked at Dante, completely unconscious, cuts and bruises all over. She wondered what would have done that to him, and not have killed him. He was still breathing, completely alive.  
He had to get him somewhere safe, even though the majority of all things nightmarish where a few miles behind them, she could still hear the screams and yells of vampires and werewolves and other creature's she'd rather not think about.  
She shivered, and looked back at the battlefield. Something didn't feel right, natural. Obviously, this wasn't natural, there were monsters of all kinds back there. But that's not it, something else, something more dark, and Primeval.  
She sighed, and watched the embers flow for a bit longer. She picked up Dante and began carrying him again, wishing he would wake up, because it felt like she was about to fall asleep herself.

William looked at Thursday. She was wrapped in the black cloak, and she looked at him with a curved smile.  
" I must say," She began  
" Without you, I would have never been able to do this." She said.  
The black cloak could extend and move on it's own. The town of Amity-Vale was destroyed, it's inhabitants, dead.  
William said nothing, he just stared at her.  
" What's wrong, William? Nothing to say? " She asked, drawing in the dirt with the black tendrils.  
" You were actually pretty nice. I liked you." She said, tilting her head at him.  
Still he said nothing, he was just looking at her, no words.  
" Fine, don't talk to me." She shrugged, starting to walk away, and then jerked around and a black whip darted towards him, and his Dragon Ring started to glow, and he jumped back.  
" Vita! " He called, and a blast of light shot from the debris, severing the piece of cloak, and it dissolved. Thursday hissed.  
" I forgot you had a dragon. A light dragon at that, pesky thing. But I can take care of it." She said, the black fabric shooting at the pile of wood and stone that the light burst came from, when she pierced through it, there was no blood.  
" What...?" She asked.  
" Now!" William yelled, the ring flashing again. An orb of light shot from another pile, close to the one it had just shot from, and hit Thursday blank and clear, sending her flying back a ways.  
" I get it." She said, quickly getting up, the tendrils pushing her up, and then steadying her.  
" You're talking through that ring, Dragon and Dragonlord link through the gem, right?" She asked, her hair was more strewn out, and her eyes more rage-full. How could you blame her? She was a darkness elemental that was just hit with light magic. DRAGON light magic, at that.  
" Vita!" William called as the tendril shot at the several piles around it. The little dragon shot out of the pile swiftly, gracefully dodging all of the waves of Darkness, and ran along side William as they jumped into a building just as the wave of darkness shot by them.  
William held a finger to his lips, and Vita made no noise, and he seemed to voluntarily lowering his glowing scales brightness and humming noise.  
The whipping noise of the fabric and dark aura was apparent outside as Thursday looked for them.  
William raised one finger, then the second, and then took off, Vita right with him. The fabric's destroyed the house they were just in, and started wrapping around where they were, quickly closing in, until Vita shot a large blast of light at the vortex forming around them, leaving a hole open, they jumped through it, and the continued running until they were in another building.  
The gem on the ring glowed.  
' Okay, Vita, can you hear me?'  
' Yes! '  
' Alright, I think we're in a weapons smith, you go fend her off, i'll give you as much power as I can, but I'll look for a weapon. I think I remember Zorbak saying that she'll still be sort of human for a while after her ascension, if you can get the black stuff away long enough, I could kill her with a weapon. '  
' Sounds like a plan! Don't take too long!'  
'I won't, now go, out the window, and around it so she doesn't know i'm in here. '  
' Got it! ' Vita flew out the window quietly, and around it, zooming towards her. The sound of flashes and dark wishes made Williams spine chill.  
He finally found a sword that he could carry, that looked strong enough but not too heavy. It was weird though, instead of a silver blade, it was colored purple.  
" This should do." He said, running out side, just as he did, Vita slid at his feet, slightly bruised up.  
" There you are." Thursday said, grinning sadistically. She looked less like a girl and more like a cesspool of ink a pond, with a girl's face.  
" Vita, just one more." William said, and his ring glowed, but it hardly glowed at all. William didn't have any magic left to give Vita, and Vita was out. Unlike most magic users, William had no idea how to convert his Stamina into magic energy.  
" I'm sorry, William." Vita flinched, trying to get up.  
" Stay here, try to hide if you can move." William said, standing up, looking at Thursday, or what was left of her.  
" Hahah. " Her voice had changed too, besides the normal girl's voice, there was a much deeper one that followed.  
" I don't get the joke." William said, very seriously, walking in an arc, towards her.  
" It's quite funny, actually. It goes 'Boy meets girl, girl tricks boy into helping her take over the world' " She smiled.  
" I don't think that's quite how that works." William said.  
" No?" She asked.  
" Yeah, see, you got the joke wrong."  
" Let me guess, it ends with you killing me?"  
" You're smarter than you look." William said, running towards her. The black wisps clashed against the violet blade, and William fended himself off alot better than he thought he would have, he didn't stutter because of this, he didn't hesitate, he continued his assault, and Thursday continued hers.  
William jumped over a attempted swipe at his feet, he spun and slashed through a tendril, the separated part dissolving. He stabbed through the "Bleeding" Tendril, and twisted the sword, it caused no pain to her. He spun and cut it all the way to Thursday, catching her by surprise, he slashed through the torso, but caused no blood, and she showed no signs of pain, she just grinned. The darkness was spreading up her face.  
'William! Her head is the only thing still human! ' He heard Vita say.  
' I've gotten some Magic back, take it! ' His ring illuminated, and he felt a surge through his body, sending Thursday back a few feet, surprising her.  
" Wait a minute." She said, looking at the sword.  
" Is that...An Amethyst Claymore?" She asked, backing away.  
William felt something flow from his hand into the blade. The normal blade hilt grew a crystal orb at the other end, the same color as the blade, and the guard turned into more a spiral, silver kind of pattern. The normal purple steel suddenly turned more Crystal-like in appearance, with the center because darker, and more rich looking.  
The blade buzzed from the center of the blade, and it crackled with some kind of energy. Suddenly, four small bursts of energy shot from it, quickly ripping away the darkness that was forming, Thursday screamed as William ran forward, and thrusted the sword right in between her eyes.  
" Ah..." Thursday exhaled.  
" I suppose you win." She chuckled, the dark after-voice was gone.  
" I suppose I do." William said, breathing heavily.  
She simply chuckled as her head dissipated with the rest of the darkness, and her voice became a distant echo.  
William collapsed.

Safira stared at the ceiling, and smiled.  
" You're better than I thought. I should have kept a better eye on you after all of these years." She said. The blade of the Scythe was clear in her chest. She couldn't move.  
" You should have. Too late now." Marceline said, panting heavily. The Scythe's handle became ghastly, and ribbon-like. It stayed in her hand, as she walked over to the throne, and sat in it.  
" I win." She said.  
" Now, I have a question for you." Marceline continued.  
" Hm?" Safira asked.  
" Where is Lamia?"

" MARCELINE I KILLED THOSE GUYS AND I CAME IN HERE TO HELP YOU KILL-That vampire you already killed. Good job." Icarus smiled brightly, casting a half-hearted glance at the far more dramatic pile of soot and dust in the center of the room. From the condition of his clothes, he looked like he should be beat up, but his skin had no bruises or cuts. He did tie the ripped pieces at his midsection, as to hide something, Marceline thought.  
" Thanks." She said. her head was leaned back, and her eyes were closed.  
" So...You're the ruler of Darkovia?"  
" Just the vampires. It hardly matters. Most of them are probably dead by now, anyways." She said.  
" Hmm, so what's the point in being queen?"  
" Well, It's my right."  
" To rule the vampires?"  
" To rule Darkovia."  
" But you don't rule the werewolves?"  
" I'll go kill Gerrick."  
" He..." Said a feminine voice from behind them, they both looked at the source.  
" Is mine. I kill Gerrick. " Ginger said, panting, collapsing, Dante with her.  
" I guess we don't have to look for them now." Icarus said.  
" Find some beds for them. We'll talk when they wake up. And find some better clothes, man. " Marceline told him, he nodded.

" Very nice..." Nightbane said, looking into the mirror. There were no longer an living beings on the battlefield. Nightbane swiftly rose in the air and flew towards it.

By the time he landed, in the center, a Symbol, similar to the one that was in his lair, was glowing, burning hot red. He grinned.  
From the symbol, it shot a line in the ground to another area. Near the entrance of Darkovia, where Ginger killed the Mage slayer. Then that one sent a surge towards where Akroma nearly killed Ginger. That one sent a blast towards Nightbane's lair, where he drew his own blood on it, and that one sent itself to where Thursday became a Primus, and then finally back to the bloody, corpse filled battlefield.  
" Master." Nightbane kneeled to a dark figure. It stepped into the moonlight.  
The figure had a large black cloak on, and it was so dark, it almost seemed as though there was no face behind the cloak.  
" Hello, Nightbane." The figure said, it was masculine.  
" What do you propose we do?"  
" We do what I did when I first came to Lore, and watched as men hid in their caves because they were afraid of the sun." He said.  
" We devise a Plan?" Nightbane asked.  
" No, we wait." 


	16. Rin

A woman tapped the grass of the field with a short, handheld pole, the kind blind people used. This was appropriate, as the woman's eyes were completely white, iris and all.  
She had one some kind of monk clothing, some parts were transparent and wavy, while others were tight and opaque. The woman was pale, and her hair was black, and short.  
" I know you're there." She called out in the empty field. The wind blew.  
" You can't hide from me." She said. Her voice was tranquil, and stoic.  
She whistled around and sliced a metal arrow in half with the small pole. The end had detached, revealing a slender, sharp looking blade.  
" Where are you?" She called, stance at the ready. She spun around suddenly stuck another Arrow away. There was a wish near her left, and she spun quickly and stared blankly in the left of her.  
' Irine Kella. She is physically blind, but don't let that fool you' The black boot gently slid across the wet grass. The evening sun reflecting off of it.  
' She can see, just not in the way you can.' A piece of blond hair fell lazily off of his shoulder, and the woman pulled out a three bladed star, and threw it at the attacker, said person swiftly drawing an arrow and the star deflected.  
' She has two weapons of choice, besides her unnatural eyes, and that would be the Dacra, and her seeing pole.'  
The white eyes stared at the man, unknowing his precise location. The pole in one hand, and another three bladed star in the other.  
' If the Dacra gets stuck in you, only she can pull it out. If you pull it out, you will die. And the Dacra will drain you of all your life slowly if it remains in you. However, if she dies, then the Dacra will simply fall out, so don't worry if you do get hit.'  
She woman narrowed her eyes, and then swiftly threw three of the Dacra's, causing the man to jump up. The woman jerked her head to the man's exact location.  
' She see's by the body warmth you emit when you move, so don't jump around alot like you usually do.'  
She surged forward, blade in hand towards the man's heart, he spun and kicked her wrist swiftly, she let out a cry of pain, and released the blade. He quickly drew back the string and fired an arrow, hitting right between her eyes.

" Impressive." The man said, legs crossed, on a wooden chair.  
The man said nothing.  
" Still all quiet, hm? Respectable. " He said, looking at the lifeless body in front of him.  
" Irine Kella. Blind at birth, raised by monks as a sister of light. We are happy to have done business with you, Mr...Ah, Mr. Nullus, is it?" He asked him. The man shifted in his jacket, his facial expression hidden by his mask, he nodded to the alias he used.  
" Very well." He looked at the corpse.  
" Now, about the rest of the sisters of light, you'll have much less trouble with-" His words were cut off, like the blade of his bow through his neck swiftly cut through.  
The blood sprayed swiftly as well, splattering all over the desk, and all over the cold Irine.  
" Irine was evil, sisters of Light are not." He said quietly. The words fell on dead ears.  
" Hey! " The guards said, running inside. But he was gone, the window shattered, everything else was as it was previous. Besides the two corpses.  
" He did it again..." Someone said, walking into the room.  
" He gets hired, fills out the job in a discreet area, and makes it look like a suicide, then comes back, gets payed, and kills his client. " He tapped his foot and pushed up azure glasses with a ringed finger and smiled.  
" The masterpiece handiwork of the assassin Moraltar. "

" Oh my god." Ginger said, running into the demolished town, running to two figures.  
" Is that who I think it is...?" Dante asked, squinting his eyes.  
" William!" Ginger shook the sleeping boy awake.  
" Ginger...?" He rubbed his eyes. The small dragon curled up next to him opened his eyes and looked at her, squeaking in surprise.  
" You two are supposed to be in the kingdom of the red. " Ginger said.  
William's ring started to glow and Vita spoke.  
" We were heading that way, but we got lost and ended up here."  
" What happened here?" Marceline asked, catching up to them.  
" Some evil spirit destroyed it."  
" Evil spirit? Where do it go?" Ginger asked.  
" We defeated it." He said proudly, clutching the sheathed sword by his side.  
" You did? Nice job." Dante said, looking around at the damage.  
William smiled triumphantly.  
Icarus looked around. His eyes darted from place to place, not in a paranoid way, more of an observant way.  
" What is it?" Marceline asked.  
" Hm? Oh! Nothing!" He smiled brightly.  
" Uh huh." Marceline looked around, trying to figure out what he was looking for. Icarus was a lot more shady then he would like everyone to believe. Whenever some would make a comment on some kind of magical force, he would mutter things. Like when they first met Dante, he said that he protected the city, and Icarus had mumbled 'That's cute', and when they were on the topic of dragon lords, he would remark on some of the rules of the relationship, and he would say things like 'Not always' or 'Not necessarily', but never spoke up about it. And now he was curious on the spirit destroyed city. She was going to keep an eye on him.

Rin exasperated intensely.  
" UUUUUGH where AM I?!" She yelled into the woods. It was late afternoon, the sun shining through the wet leaves.  
The robotic owl hoo'ed, and flapped it's metallic wings, flashing with it's eye bulbs.  
" Calm down. Jeez." Rin sighed. Looking around.  
" Hmm..." She said. She had on a glove, that was brown and leather at her arm, but under her knuckles, around her wrist, and in the palm of the glove were bulbs, that glowed with a blue light. She held it up, and a small metal disk appeared, with a compass on top.  
" I'm heading north? Where do I NEED to be heading?" She asked, tapping the compass with her free hand, and a holographic map appeared in front of her.  
" Let's see, Darkovia is this way, and the green lands are this way...Ah, I am heading the right way. " She said, looking at the place where the red kingdom was on her map.  
" Hmm..." She said. Walking around a tree, she spotted a camp fire smoke trail near the edge of Darkovia. The scent of cooking food wafted in her nose, and her stomach growled.  
" Err... " She said.  
" I don't want to ask for food, because I don't want to look pathetic, but I also don't wanna just sit here and starve." She bit her lip. The robotic owl kicked her in the back of the head, and hoo'ed his metallic hoo.  
" Ow! Nozomu! What's gotten into you recently?" She asked, glaring at the robotic owl. It simply hoo'ed again and landed on her shoulder, looking in the direction of the fire.  
" Uugh...Fine..." She sighed, walking towards it.

Marceline looked into the fire. Her ears twitched, and she looked in the direction of the twig snapping, the girl froze in place. She had lightly brown skin, with dark brown hair, braided down her shoulder. She had hazel eyes, and freckles.  
" Who are you?" She called. Everyone looked at her.  
" I-um, My name is Rin." She said.  
" Rin? That's an odd name." Dante said.  
" More odd than Dante?" Marceline asked with skepticism.  
" I was just hoping for some food, if you uh, don't want to give any to me, that's fine." Rin said, rubbing her arm.  
" You're a technomancer." Ginger said, looking at the glove on her arm.  
" I've read about those! " William said.  
" They're supposed to be able to control technology. " He continued.  
" Tech-what?" Icarus asked. Marceline rolled her eyes.  
" It's a bunch of metal and electricity magic working together to work out something else." She said.  
" Well, may I..Um.." She stuttered. She didn't expect the group to be this large, or diverse.  
" Just have some food. " Marceline said, holding out a stick with some kind of roasted meat.  
" There were no people in the town left, so the kitchen was empty. This stuff was here, it smells really good though."  
" I don't care what it is." Dante said, already have eaten two, and about to eat another.  
" It's good." He continued, mouth full.  
Rin bowed, taking the stick with the food with her.  
" Aren't you going to stay and eat?" Icarus asked her.  
This took Rin by surprise.  
" I'm actually not suited for a break, i'll eat it on my way."  
" Your way?" Marceline raised a brow.  
" Yeah, I'm on a mission, sorta."  
" Ooh!" Icarus exclaimed.  
" Where to?" Dante asked, mouth still full. Marceline flicked him on the back of the head.  
" Uh...Kingdom of the Red."  
" No way! us too!" Dante said, swallowing, Marceline hit on the back of the head.  
" Idiot! Don't tell our plans to people we just met!" She hissed.  
" I'm sorry, but, I really do have to go, thank you for the, uh, food." She said, looking at the meat, trying to figure out what kind it was, but couldn't place it.  
" Thank you again, I have to go now though, goodbye." She said, the robotic owl on her shoulder peeked out from behind her and hoo'ed, and she was off.

" That was weird..." Rin said, eating the food.  
" Who were those guys? And what was that feeling I got?" She asked, getting out a discus similar to the Compass, but it simply had a blue dot on it this time. She tapped it. She tried to remember one of their names. She remembered the woman who looked like she was in charge making fun of the White haired man's name... Dante, was it?  
" Dante. " She said into it. A few options popped up, and one of them looked like him. She tapped the holographic face.  
" Dante Sirno; Demon slayer by trade. Last seen leaving the sand-sea with an group of people. Status: Alive" A robotic, female voice from the device. Three more faces popped up. The black haired woman, the red haired woman, and the blonde haired man.  
She tapped the red heads.  
" No Information."  
" Okay..." She sighed, tapping the black haired woman's.  
" No Information."  
" Seriously? Okay, who's this then?" She tapped the blonde haired man's face.  
" Icarus Flyer. Son of Celestia and Sepulchure. Doom Lord. Status: Unknown. "  
" Celestia? THE Celestia?" She asked.  
" Celestia Ignis Flyer. High Dragon Priestess. Status: Deceased. Place of death, Falconreach cliff."  
" What day? And by what means?" Rin always felt a little dirty doing this, going into peoples business, but hey, she needed info.  
" Cause of death: Murder. Ti-T̸̮͇̰i̫̪̪̭̠ͅm̜̣̳̟̠͉̠ę-̰̺͎͕̱t̞͈̩̗͕́i̠-͎̩̤t̨i̻͈̞-̲̼̯͚t̰̰̻͉̬i-̺̲̺̖ͅͅtį̼͓m̝̖̥͍̤͘e͇̺͔̗͍̫̟-" The discus shattered.  
" Awh, no!" Rin said, tapping the button, but it simply fell apart.  
" Dang it...That was weird..." Rin sighed.  
" Oh well." She continued walking.

Gerrick walked into the city, hands in pocket  
" Kingdom of the Red, hm?" He asked, looking around.  
" I believe it's time I go make myself known."


	17. A battle of Blood

The group was walking across a river, on a grassy trail, towards the kingdom of the red, which wasn't that far away.  
" Hey, did you hear?" Someone said, off from the road, on a carriage.  
" No, what happened?" Someone else said.  
They were whispering, so no one could hear them, but Marceline.  
" That Nullus guy apparently killed his client. "  
" Yeah, that's a thing he does. If he thinks his client is 'evil' after paying him, then he kills them. It's messed up."  
" Yeah it is, but he does his job. If you convince him that you're not evil, then you just pay him and he goes on his way, right?"  
" I think if you hire an assassin then you're pretty evil."  
" Controversial." They scowled.  
Marceline kept walking.  
" We're here!" Icarus cheered.  
" Shut up, idiot." Marceline said.  
" Why? There are guards but the doors are open and they're letting everyone in."  
"...True." Marceline said, and then she shrugged.  
" What the hell, come on."

They were inside the city now. They used some of the gold they had left to get in an inn.  
" Having a party?" The innkeeper asked, at the size of the group.  
" Ah, no, we're just traveling. The more the merrier, see?" Marceline said.  
" Right...Well, here's your keys, you get the suite because of the size of your group, and you also have a child." She said, handing her the shiny golden key.

Icarus flopped on the soft looking bed.  
" Ahhh!" He exasperated. Dante repeated this action.  
" You guys," Marceline said, putting her hand on her hips.  
" I'm leaving William with you guys, so don't corrupt him. " She said, walking into the other room, where Ginger was. She could hear the boys jumping on the beds in the other room, and she rolled her eyes.  
Marceline went and walked over to Ginger's bed, sitting on the edge. She was curled up at the base.  
" How are you...?" She asked.  
Ginger didn't say anything. She was hugging a pillow to her chest.  
" You've been pretty quiet, since..."  
" Since Shadow." She finished.  
" yeah..." Marceline said, facing away from her.  
" You wanna talk about it...?" She asked Ginger. She didn't say anything.  
Marceline got up to go to her side of the room.  
" I would have died."  
" What?" Marceline spun around.  
" He had shadow manipulation powers. When Gerrick set that place on fire, he cut out of his bars, and saved me. I would have died in the fire." She said, curling up closer.  
" Ginger..." Marceline took a step towards her.  
" We kissed." her voice cracked, a gentle pulse of tears flowing from her green eyes, the borders red.  
Marceline didn't say anything, she just looked at her, unknowing what to say.  
" Right before the fighting began...We kissed." She buried Her face in her pillow. She turned around, and left the bedroom. She looked like she wanted to be alone.  
Icarus had taken off all the armor parts of his clothes. leaving his in loose red clothing and socks. Everything at his side. Dante was taking a bath, and William and Vita were asleep.  
He looked at the two.  
" A spirit, hm?" He asked, leaning his head back.  
" Yeah, right, " He closed his eyes.  
" Like he would be back." Even so, when Icarus closed his eyes, he felt like...Something, was watching him. Something he was oddly familiar with.

Marceline was walking in the lower parts of the city. She looked around, it seemed very...Empty...  
She walked by a house that had an open door. She shrugged, and walked in.  
Usually, vampires need an invitation inside a home, but for one, Marceline was strong enough to push past the border. Secondly, she didn't feel any force pushing back on her, the owners of the home were dead.  
She walked inside another room, and there was some sort of shrine in it. A small fountain, but instead of water, the fountain was dry, and bloodstained.  
" I know these," Marceline said, walking over to it.  
" This is the shrine of Blooodlust."  
" Very good." Said a feminine voice, by the time Marceline had spun around, a katana was already being thrust towards her through. Her scythe conjured immediately, and deflected the black blade.  
" Nicely done." The woman said, jumping back. She was in all black, and the room had no light. If not for Marceline's vampire vision, she would not be able to see her at all.  
" Who are you? " Marceline called at the outline, slowly shifting.  
" Someone. A killer, perhaps." She said.  
" Do you work for Scarlet?" She asked.  
" The princess? Hardly. I work for her brother."  
" She has a brother? " Marceline asked. She tried to remember what Dante said about Scarlet when they had met William.  
" He died at birth. Her twin."  
" Ah, yes. But you see, the father, the King of Red, begged for healing from the gods, and preformed a blood ritual."  
" For the gods? That's heresy!"  
" Not to the good gods, silly." She laughed.  
" To the bad ones. The really bad ones. The ones that hide in the shadows."  
" Like you?" Marceline asked, looking around. She had somehow lost visual of the woman who attacked her, and she couldn't pinpoint the origin of the voice.  
" Yes, a little." The woman chuckled. She sounded like she was in her Teenage years.  
" Who are you?" Marceline asked again.  
" If you must know," The girl said, the voice getting a little more steady in one spot.  
" My name is Kat." Marceline was kicked through the wall, into the light, which steamed and sizzled her skin, and she flew into a higher floor.  
" So it's true." Kat said, on the same floor as her now, Marceline twirled to look at her.  
Kat was about Ginger's height and build, with all black clothes, including a black mask over half of her face, and a good. She swiftly took off the hood, revealing raven black hair, and a single side bang of Blood red hair.  
" You really are a vampire. I couldn't really tell in the dark." She said. Marceline could practically hear the grin in her voice.  
" What do you want?" Marceline asked.  
" Well, you're blood would be nice. But hey, anything could happen from the time I attack you to the time I kill you." Her eyes calmed to a point that made Marceline extremely uncomfortable.  
" Look, why are you attacking me!"  
" Because Bloodlust told me too. I never finished that story did I?" She asked.  
" I don't believe you did."  
" Well, basically, he slit the throat of a Nymph, causing the gods to resurrect him, but in a different way."  
" As a god?" Marceline asked.  
" Precisely." She said, striking forward with the blade, and Marceline disappeared with sheer speed, but much to Marceline's mid-dodge surprise, so did she, faster than she could see even with her eyes. The Katana suddenly appeared out of sudden slowness, and the hilt of the Scythe was raised to block it, and Marceline jumped back.  
" This is going to be really fun." She heard Kat say.

The wind blew in the alleyway, making Gerrick's tailcoat flow in the breeze, he looked around.  
' Now, this a very important job, more important than any other's you've done' The black boots of Moraltar side stepped in the alleyway, blending in the dark.  
' More than one kingdom depends on this battle, so you have to be extra careful this time. Twice as careful as you are on your paranoid days. Because i'm sure you have plenty of those' The words repeated themselves in Moraltar's head, his client gave him all the information he needed.  
' He is a conjurer, but don't underestimate him, he is also extremely physically capable of snapping your pretty little neck in an instant if you make the wrong move.'  
He drew back an arrow, and let it fly.  
' Good luck, Nullus.'

Marceline spun the scythe, upturning a large amount of debris from the floor, attempting to skewer the agile woman, and she dodged the attack, back flipping out of slicking range.  
Kat side stepped another attack, then twirled and slashed Marceline across the cheek, in return, Marceline grabbed Kat's wrist, and threw her against a wall, breaking through, and she rolled into her own control again in the hallway. She ran in another direction.  
" Oh, no, you are not picking a fight with the queen and then running off!" Marceline yelled, running into the hallway after her, but then recoiling as she made a hole through the pathetic roof, revealing the glow of the sun.  
Kat grinned, getting out a ceremonial looking dagger, earning a strange look from Marceline. And then a stranger look as she brought the blade across her palm, the blood flowing out, but then, together, in the air, into a small orb, and almost immediately, the wound sealed itself.  
" What are you...?" Marceline took a step back from the intoxicating and yet, drunken scent of human blood, with a touch of magic.  
She threw the red orb, and there was an Explosion.


	18. Blood Bath

The arrow stopped about a feet away from Gerrick, hovering in the air for a second, and then fell.  
" I suppose you didn't hear about my Fog, then?" Gerrick asked, looking in the direction, seeing Moraltar. The masked man said nothing.  
" So you're the assassin then? The one that's been running a muck? Nullus is what they called you, but I doubt that's you're real name." Gerrick said, turning around fully.  
" Mind telling me your real name?" Gerrick asked. The other man disappeared completely with speed, shooting three arrows at Gerrick, but again, they all stopped, this time the fog became visible.  
" Stone Mannequin. " He said, raising his hand into the air. A grey orb of light appeared.  
" I summon you." Sure enough, the orb flashed, and a few in feet in front of him, a stone statue that stood roughly 8 feet tall, with a large stone broadsword in it's back appeared.  
" Attack." Gerrick ordered. The Statue suddenly jerked it's head up at the assassin, dust falling from the crevice in it's neck. It pulled the broadsword out of it's back, and Charged at Moraltar. He easily dodged the swings, while it was surprisingly fast for a stone heap, Moraltar was much faster. He dodged and made many nooks and scratches in the mannequin, and then eventually, spun around kneeling at it, and cut of half of a leg with his sharp bow wire, then coming up and stabbing it in the back, where the broadsword hole was, the blade of the bow going completely through it. he twisted once, and the seemingly random nooks and cracks revealed to be strategically placed time bombs, the little crack went all throughout, the other wounds being catalysts, and the statue fell apart, the remaining pieces turned into grey light, and disappeared in the fog. Moraltar then looked back to Gerrick, who was preparing another summon. He jumped off the wall, spinning, bow in hand, about to make the swift kill, and Gerrick arm swung out, and Moraltar realized, there was no spell casting going on, it was a trap. His hand slapped the mask, grabbing his head, the mask shattering completely, and Gerrick threw him against the wall so hard, that it cracked, and nearly crumbled a large section, but only a few stones came down onto Moraltar's now slightly bloody face.  
" Now then," The dark conjurer said, flicking his wrist, the fog blew away the remains of the Mask, revealing Moraltar's face in full.  
His look was fierce, contorted into a scowl, a long smooth scar over his left eye. His other eye was glassy green, pupil like a Serpent. His lips were thin, and skin pale. he was the embodiment of a cold hearted assassin.  
" Ah, now I know your face. More than what most people can say." He said, raising his hand to cast a spell, when something made a noise. A loyal, but old, heart noise. It was a hound, no, a simple Dog.  
Immortality limped up to Moraltar's slightly crippled form, and stood bravely in between him and Gerrick.  
" You have a dog?" Gerrick asked, putting his hand down.  
Moraltar gripped the bow tighter, and Gerrick smiled.  
" I get it, you gotta protect your dog, right? I don't know why you attacked me, but I suppose i'll leave you alone. I have my own mission."  
" Scarlet."  
" What?" Gerrick turned around. The man was petting his dog.  
" It was Princess Scarlet who payed me to attack you." Moraltar said.  
" Attack?"  
" She said not to kill you. Just to stall you. "  
" Stall me, hm...?" Gerrick looked at the castle that marked the highest point in the Kingdom of Red. The Crimson Castle.  
The wind blew, and Gerrick's tailcoat blew in the wind again. He looked over to where he was, but the Assassin, and the dog were gone. As were most of the mask pieces, but one was left. He picked it up.  
" Gerrick?" Asked Donovan behind him.  
" Yes, Don?" He asked, looking.  
" Who was that man?" The golden haired boy walked up to him.  
" That was an Assassin. Hired by the princess." He said.  
" Hired to kill you?"  
" Hired to stall me. For some reason." Gerrick said.  
" Hm. " The emotionless boy said, looking at the crack in the wall where Gerrick threw him.  
" Do you think he would have killed you? If he was hired to?" Donovan asked him.  
Gerrick shrugged.  
" I have no idea Don. Maybe, maybe not. " He said.  
" Hm." he said again. Gerrick looked at Donovan. When Gerrick was around 14, he saw a small Golden pup, alone in Darkovia. He thought it was a Normal light wolf, but it turned out to be a pure lycan. Donovan. Donovan was strange in the sense that he never got into any deep trouble. He could always just happen to come across a way out at the last possible second, and that's made him a little too clam, and as a Result, lack of any emotions that would distract him from anything that would help him out a problem. Even though he's only about 10, he's Gerrick's right hand man. Especially now that half of Gerrick's army is dead.  
His fist clenched around the piece of Moraltar's mask. It crumbled into dust.  
" Marceline is the new Vampire Queen, right?"  
" Yes, Gerrick."  
Gerrick let the dust flow off in the wind.  
" Since Safira is dead, the new queen has to pay for what the vampires did to my family."

Marceline dodged a second explosion. The scent of blood filled her nose, and her vision went blurry for a second. She felt like she was a shark in the ocean, where one half was full of the blood, and the other poison. Because that's exactly what it was to her.  
" You're running out of shade!" Kat called.  
" What do you want from me?! Why do you want to kill me?" Marceline called up to her.  
" Bloodlust told me to kill you." She tossed a levitating Blood Bomb in her hand.  
" I can't very well deny him."  
" Why not? What's stopping you?" Marceline called up. This caught Kat off for a second, but she shook it off and threw the bomb at her again.  
" You hesitated! What kind of chain does Bloodlust have around your neck making you do his dirty work?" Marceline said.  
" That's no business for a soon-to-be-dead woman." Kat cut her palm again, and out came a hardened arrow looking object.  
The arrow floated in the air, and shattered at the end, shooting the fragments at Marceline like some of sort of Machine. Marceline dodged most of them, but she did earn herself many cuts.  
" Tell me, and I can help you!" Marceline yelled.  
" No one can help me," Kat said, opening her palm forcefully, and Marceline's limps froze, paralyzed.  
'The blood...' Marceline realized at the cuts.  
' She's controlling her blood in me.' Marceline looked up at her.  
" Except him. Otherwise it's all me." She said. Her previous playful look had turned cold. She drew her Katana.  
" Look-" Marceline's words were cut off as Kat closed her fist, clenching her mouth shut as well.  
" I don't want to hear it." She said, drawing the tip of the blade across her cheek, the still blood very slowly poured out.  
Marceline looked at Kat forcefully.  
" See, that's the kind of eyes he has. red and unnatural. A thing I don't understand about Lore, you have all these humans, then a little less then half of them can use magic. There are the magical creatures, and then there are you two. You don't really fit into any category, do you? Resurrected blood magic demon prince? Vampire Demon princess? Oh, I guess it's queen now, hm? What's the deal with that, anyways, were you human at one point, or half human, then got turned by a vampire into a double halfie? Vampires already have some demon in them. Did that increase your Demon half, or-" Kat's words were cut off as Marceline punched her in the gut, sending her back several feet, and a little blood came out of her mouth.  
" Yes, as a matter of fact, it did. It made my blood stronger." Marceline said, her Crimson eyes glowing in the increased shade.  
" The hell?" Kat coughed, at the rising Darkness.  
" It's hardly afternoon, why is it..." Kat looked outside the enlarged roof in the flimsy building. It was beginning to rain.  
" Oh, crap." She raised the blood that she coughed and made it into a ball of fire, and it raised to separate herself and Marceline.  
" Why are you doing this?" Marceline asked.  
" The more you ask that the more I want to cut off your head with a rusty saw." Kat said, her clothes rippling, and her hair sort of flowing. Magic was flowing from her hand, increasing the blood fire like gas does to a normal fire.  
" Fuck." Marceline grabbed Luna, the scythe that she had Dropped when she was paralyzed, she cut through the roof just as the wave of blood red fire came rushing towards her, the gentle drizzle on her face, however, the remaining light through the clouds did sting a little, it had no real effect.  
" Look, whatever he's-" She jumped back as the floor under her came down and she started levitating higher to avoid the Katana slashes.  
" I said, shut up." Kat said, jumping off the edge of the other part of the roof, Marceline expected a Katana scratch, but instead, the woman tackled her, as a result, they both tumbled back to the roof.  
" Look, I can help you!" Marceline said.  
" SHUT UP!" Kat stabbed Marceline clean through the stomach with the Katana, and she felt the blade scratch her spine.  
She grunted in pain, and couldn't do much more.  
" Fine..." Marceline grabbed Kat by the wrist and threw her across the roof, the wooden tiles breaking with her as she skidded to the next building. Marceline shakily stood up, and pulled the Katana out, throwing it into the valley below. She spit out some dark blood.  
" Fine, if that's how you want to do things." She said, flashing her fangs, gripping Luna tightly.  
" Hmph." Kat wiped away some blood from her mouth, grinning. It was no longer raining, but the clouds were much more dense. She swiftly got out the other knife and slashed her palm, the blood evaporating as it left her hand.  
Marceline was extra on her guard, ready to jump off at the slightest scent of blood.  
" He said he could avenge my family." Kat said from the other building.  
" Your family?" Marceline asked.  
" They were killed by a gang. I knew it was coming, just, not as a kid. They killed my baby brother, too." Kat said.  
" You knew it was coming...?" Marceline asked. Kat raised up her quickly healing palm.  
" My family is cursed with with this magic. Or was. I'm the last one in this branch of sin..." She said.  
" If the people who killed my family are killed with this magic, the curse ends. And no one else has to suffer it. " She said. At this point, Marceline's grip had softened a bit. And she only realized the stinging in her fresh wound just a bit after it was too late. A red flash occurred, a small one, leaving a small hole in her stomach, and Marceline upturned an impressive amount of blood, splattering on the rooftop. Kat grinned.  
" Well I didn't know my story was that heart wrenching."  
" You lied...To distract me...?" She asked.  
" No, of course not. I'm a terrible liar. The story was true, but I was distracting you." She said.  
Marceline breathed heavily at the dark, almost black blood all over the roof now.  
She said nothing, but her grey skin had darkened, her fangs had grown a little, and her ears were just that much less human-like. And of course, her eyes were glowing in the rain cloud darkened lighting.  
" Oh, is she finally wanting to play?" She asked, cutting her palm again, but Marceline was already there, coming down with the large scythe, Kat held up her palm, and a small hardened blood shield blocked the blade, and it deflected as the shield broke, Kat ran across the roof, grabbing her katana, turning around just in time to clash against Luna's sickle again.  
Fast for someone with a hole in their stomach," Kat grunted and deflected it away, jumping up and kicking Marceline in the shoulder, but she grabbed her ankle, and threw her through the roof,, hitting the floor, smashing through that, and hitting the next floor.  
" Ugh." She quickly rolled out of the way of an attempted Decapitation, and then jumped back from another attempt to slice her in half. She didn't have any time for the knife, so Kat simply quickly cut her hand with the katana, and then slashed it, sending a small sharp glowing ribbon towards Marceline, whom incanted something, and the blast was deflected by a barrier the color of her own blood.  
" Oh my," Kat said, grinning.  
" That's your demon magic then? Didn't expect to see that." She said, gripping her Katana with both hands.  
Marceline incanted a second time, running her hand along the hilt of the scythe, it earned itself a dark aura. She had just enchanted it with a Demon augmentation.  
Kat blocked the strike with her Katana, but it didn't keep her from sending a few feet back, against the wall. She struck against the crimson-black scythe a few times and then kicked Marceline's thigh, causing her to hesitate. Kat pushed her through the wall.  
The two fell with the rain, and hit the ground together. It was raining very hard now. Kat jumped back, ripping off the hood and face mask, as it was clinging to her, revealing her full face.  
She let out a small yell, and started attacking Marceline furiously, yelling with each full strengthened blow, eventually, the attacks got weaker, and the water made her drop the Katana, and she started hitting at Marceline. Who had returned to normal, as did her wound.  
" I'M EVIL!" She was yelling. " I'M BAD, I'M YOUR ENEMY!"  
The Scythe became a necklace again, and she easily stood there and slapped away the pathetic punches. Kat's face was extra wet now, because she was crying. Marceline grabbed her wrists.  
" I'M EVIL! I'M YOUR ENEMY, I KILL PEOPLE!" She was sobbing furiously.  
" KILL ME!" She screamed, over the roaring rain. Marceline just looked at her.  
" FUCKING KILL ME! END IT!" She yelled at her. Marceline had no expression on her face.  
" Please..." her eyes were red.  
" Just kill me."


End file.
